A Natasha Richardson skiing accident and the nature of instant information

Today we have been given yet another example of how unconfirmed reports about a celebrity can spread like wild fire on the internet - even if there are vocal denials of the reports to the contrary. Case in point: well known actress Natasha Richardson, wife of famed actor, Liam Neeson, has been holidaying at a Montreal ski resort in the province of Quebec, Canada. On Monday she reportedly took a fall off the hill at the bottom of a ski run and was pretty banged up. Despite the fact that she was apparently okay and able to walk with assistance afterwards, there are stories now circulating that she is in fact brain dead and that her body is being flown back to New York for relatives to say their final good-byes. Wow, this is a serious discrepancy. Anyway, for the story details here is just one example of the reports now floating about on the web:

According to unconfirmed reports, Natasha Richardson has been declared brain dead after a ski accident Monday at a Canadian resort. The New York Post reports that the actress' unnamed friends say she is brain dead and is on her way to New York for friends and family to say goodbye. But there's been no official confirmation of this terrible news.

A spokesperson at Sacre Coeur Hospital in Montreal, where Richardson, 45, was taken Monday night, would only say Richardson is no longer in Canada. Richardson was feeling fine for nearly an hour Monday after falling on a beginner's run during a private ski lesson. The British-born Richardson was not wearing a ski helmet during ski lesson on the Nansen, a beginners’ run.

Richardson was at the bottom of the run, in what is known as the flats, during the midafternoon lesson when she fell and tumbled down the hill. Media reports said her sons, Micheal, 13, and Daniel, 12, were with her at the time of the accident. She did not hit anyone or anything before coming to a stop and the ski instructor was by her side within seconds, the spokesperson for Sacre Coeur said. There was no sign of injury, no cut or bleeding.

Two ski patrollers helped Richardson but she was able to walk to her room at the resort’s Quintessence Hotel, where she'd been staying since Sunday. Britain's BBC reports that a member of Richardson family, who asked not to be named, said the family was "very distressed."

We pray that this report of her being brain dead is not true and that Natasha, a terrific actress, wonderful mother and loving wife, will be OK.