Natasha Richardson
We were all shocked to hear of the sudden death this week of actress Natasha Richardson after a skiing accident at Mt.Tremblant north of Montreal.
Of course I would like to express my condolences to her husband Liam Neeson and her family at this sad time.
It does amaze me how people and the media (fueled by the people's desire to know) pounce on stories like this, and then in our internet based life, how comments on the news stories and blogs pop up which makes it seem like everyone is an expert on what happened and how to prevent it.
Here is the way I see it. It WAS a tragic accident. It MIGHT have been prevented had she worn a helmet or might not. There have been more than one skiing / snowboarding accidents in the past month here in Ontario where people have died and they WERE wearing helmets, so the helmet issue is not a guarantee.
I'm not saying helmets don't save lives, they do, but not always and there are no guarantees.
If you hide in the Chalet because you don't want to risk injuring yourself on the slopes, you might fall down the stairs. (Should you wear a helmet?) I'm being facetious.
There is risk in all we do. I skied and cycled for years like every other kid of the 1970's and we NEVER wore helmets. Yes - some kids got injured and some probably died, but you should not do the 'What if?' thing.
None of us are really in a position from afar to say for sure if anything might have prevented this tragic loss. We can speculate and comment and sound like experts, but in the end, it really does not matter.
From what I have read, Mt.Tremblant Resort did everything they could and there is no question that Montreal hospitals are well equipped to handle patients like this, but again, I was not their, and neither am I an expert, so I wish people would stop speculating on things they really know little about. It would be nice to see people commenting on positive things about Natasha and expressing their condolences rather than pouncing on the negative and 'what if's'.
Only when people stop being an audience for the kind of paparazzi media stories will the media stop reporting them that way.
Of course I would like to express my condolences to her husband Liam Neeson and her family at this sad time.
It does amaze me how people and the media (fueled by the people's desire to know) pounce on stories like this, and then in our internet based life, how comments on the news stories and blogs pop up which makes it seem like everyone is an expert on what happened and how to prevent it.
Here is the way I see it. It WAS a tragic accident. It MIGHT have been prevented had she worn a helmet or might not. There have been more than one skiing / snowboarding accidents in the past month here in Ontario where people have died and they WERE wearing helmets, so the helmet issue is not a guarantee.
I'm not saying helmets don't save lives, they do, but not always and there are no guarantees.
If you hide in the Chalet because you don't want to risk injuring yourself on the slopes, you might fall down the stairs. (Should you wear a helmet?) I'm being facetious.
There is risk in all we do. I skied and cycled for years like every other kid of the 1970's and we NEVER wore helmets. Yes - some kids got injured and some probably died, but you should not do the 'What if?' thing.
None of us are really in a position from afar to say for sure if anything might have prevented this tragic loss. We can speculate and comment and sound like experts, but in the end, it really does not matter.
From what I have read, Mt.Tremblant Resort did everything they could and there is no question that Montreal hospitals are well equipped to handle patients like this, but again, I was not their, and neither am I an expert, so I wish people would stop speculating on things they really know little about. It would be nice to see people commenting on positive things about Natasha and expressing their condolences rather than pouncing on the negative and 'what if's'.
Only when people stop being an audience for the kind of paparazzi media stories will the media stop reporting them that way.