The Natasha Richardson tragedy has helped save a little Ohio girl, who would have died if her parents hadn’t read about the actress’ medical drama.
Seven-year-old Morgan McCracken was hours away from death, two days after she was hit by a baseball during a family game, when her father Donald decided to call doctors for advice after realizing his daughter’s injury was similar to the one that killed Richardson last week.
Injured Morgan’s parents iced a lump that formed on her head and when the swelling subsided and the child seemed fine they thought nothing of it.
Two days later, she complained of a headache and, after watching the Richardson tragedy unfold, her parents decided not to wait to see if she’d be fine.
The actress died two days after banging her head in a fall during a skiing lesson.
Donald McCracken tells CNN.com, “Because of Natasha, we called the pediatrician immediately. And by the time I got off the phone with him, Morgan was sobbing, her head hurt so much.”
The McCrackens took Morgan to the hospital, where doctors ran tests and immediately put the 7-year-old on a helicopter to Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland.
It was then that her parents learned that their daughter had the same injury as Richardson: “They told us that if we hadn’t brought her in Thursday night, she never would have woken up.”
Fortunately, doctors were able to operate on the little girl, and she’s back at home recovering after a five-day hospital stay.
(c) 2009 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.
