Richardson 'Donated Organs'

The British stage and screen star died in a New York hospital on Wednesday (18Mar08) from an epidural hematoma - bleeding between the brain and skull - two days after she hit her head in a fall during a skiing lesson at a Canadian resort.

Friends tell People.com the 45-year-old was a strong advocate of the transplant programme and her family insisted her organs were harvested after her life support machine was switched off.

A source says, "She spent so much time fighting the stigma of AIDS; someone like that would naturally donate her organs. At least by donating her organs something good could come out of (the tragedy)."

Family insiders, meanwhile, add that Richardson's widower Liam Neeson and the couple's two sons Michael, 13, and Daniel, 12, are "doing okay" following the tragedy.

Close friend Blaine Trump says, "It takes a while to absorb this. But he says the family needs to move forward. They will take it one step at a time. With good friends by their side they will get through the tough days ahead."

Richardson was laid to rest in New York state on Sunday (22Mar09).