Liam Neeson has spoken candidly over the years about the heartbreaking promise he shared with his late wife, actress Natasha Richardson, before her sudden death in 2009.
Richardson, best known for her roles in The Parent Trap and Maid in Manhattan, was just 45 years old when she suffered a fatal head injury during a ski trip in Quebec, Canada. She and Neeson, now 73, had been married for 15 years and shared two sons: Micheál, now 30, and Daniel, 28.
During what was meant to be a fun family vacation, Natasha had been taking a beginner’s ski lesson at Mont Tremblant resort when she fell on a slope and hit her head. Initially, it didn’t seem serious, she even called Liam from her hotel room, per PEOPLE.
“She said, ‘Oh, darling. I’ve taken a tumble in the snow,’” Neeson recalled in a 2014 interview with 60 Minutes. “That’s how she described it.”
But within hours, her condition deteriorated rapidly. The seemingly minor fall had caused a catastrophic brain hemorrhage. By the time Neeson arrived at the hospital, Natasha had been declared brain dead and placed on life support.
The actor later revealed in an interview with Loaded Magazine that the couple had made a pact long before the accident, a pact that would ultimately guide one of the most difficult decisions of his life.
“I went in to her and told her I loved her,” he said. “I said, ‘Sweetie, you’re not coming back from this.’”
The couple had agreed that if either of them ended up in a vegetative state, they wouldn’t want to be kept alive artificially. “So when I saw her with all those tubes and machines, my immediate thought was, ‘OK, these tubes have to go. She’s gone,’” he said.
Natasha was transferred to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, where close family and friends were able to say their final goodbyes.
Since her passing, Neeson has spoken openly about his ongoing grief and how he continues to honor her memory. In a 2020 interview with Inquirer.net, he shared that he often visits her grave, located just a short walk from his home.
“I speak to her every day,” he said. “I go down there quite often, so I do talk to her as if she’s here. Not that she answers me.”
He added that he also talks to a few deceased friends from his early days in Ireland. “Is that religious? I don’t know. I was raised Catholic. But I definitely question life and death and what comes after, especially now that I’m in my 70s.”
Though more than a decade has passed, Neeson’s words continue to resonate with anyone who has experienced deep loss, and the enduring love that remains.