Ambulance sent to help Natasha was turned away

AN ambulance was sent to treat Natasha Richardson after her fall but was turned away, it was revealed today.

Yves Coderre, director of operations at the emergency services company which sent the paramedics to the Mont Tremblant resort in Canada, said that ski patrollers requested an ambulance after the actress fell.

But when they arrived they were told they were not needed, said Mr Coderre, whose company, Ambulances Radisson, serves Mont Tremblant.

"They never saw the patient. So they turned around," he said.

Ms Richardson's fall took place at about 3pm local time) and she refused treatment immediately after. The resort issued a statement which said that she did not appear hurt and was walking around shortly after the fall. "[Ms Richardson] did not show any visible sign of injury but the ski patrol followed strict procedures and brought her back to the bottom of the slope and insisted she should see a doctor," the statement said.

The instructor and a ski patrol accompanied the actress to her hotel, where they again recommended she should be seen by a doctor.

Mr Coderre said another ambulance was called later to Ms Richardson's hotel. It arrived at about 4pm.

He added that by that stage she was conscious but "wasn't in good shape" and was rushed to hospital.

The actress was first treated in the nearby Centre Hospitalier then transferred to Sacre-Coeur hospital in Montreal. Doctors there diagnosed brain death and the family made the decision to have her transferred by air ambulance to New York on Tuesday.

She was flown to a New Jersey airport and transferred to Lenox Hill hospital in Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Shortly before 7pm last night (midnight GMT) her family decided to turn off her life support machine after a bedside vigil and announced her death.