Richardson Tragedy Helps Save Little Girl

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 realising his daughter's injury was similar to the one which killed Richardson last week (18Mar09).

Injured Morgan's folks iced a lump that formed on her head and when the swelling subsided and the kid 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 paediatrician 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 hospital, where doctors ran tests and immediately put the seven year old on a helicopter to Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland.

It was then 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.