Actor Liam Neeson’s nephew died over the weekend, five years after injuring his head in a 20-foot fall, reports confirmed.
Ronan Sexton, a son of Neeson’s sister Bernadette, was 35 years old. Sexton passed away over the weekend in Cushendall, a village in Northern Ireland, with his family present, according to The Belfast Telegraph, which first reported the news.
In June 2014, Sexton was partying with friends in Brighton when a drunken dare went horribly wrong. At 4 a.m. he reportedly climbed a red phone-box outside Brighton Pier when he slipped and landed in a concrete subway 20 feet below.
He never fully recovered from the serious head injuries sustained during the fall.
Police did not suspect any foul play surrounding Sexton’s fall.
“Just after 4 a.m. on Sunday, a man climbed on top of a telephone kiosk outside Brighton Pier when he fell some 20ft to the ground, sustaining a serious head injury,” a Sussex Police spokesman said at the time, according local media.
Sexton was initially treated at a local hospital after the fall, where he was in critical condition before getting transferred to a neurological center for more extensive treatment, reported People.
In a 2014 statement following the accident, his family said, “Ronan is receiving wonderful treatment from the dedicated staff at Hurstwood Park.” They also thanked the public for their outpouring of “love, support, prayers, and good wishes for Ronan.”
Ronan was the youngest of six children.
Parish priest Fr. Luke McWilliams said the family has asked for privacy as they mourn their loss, reported The Belfast Telegraph.
Neeson has not commented publicly on his nephew’s passing.
A Decade After Neeson’s Wife Died
Sexton’s death comes ten years after another significant loss for Neeson.
In 2009, Neeson lost his wife, actress Natasha Richardson, who died after hitting her head while skiing in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec.
On March 16, 2009, Richardson went skiing with one of her sons while on vacation. While skiing on Nansen, one of the beginner slopes, Richardson fell and hit her head.
She initially appeared fine and joked about the fall, telling Neeson: “Oh darling. I’ve taken a tumble in the snow.”
“That’s how she described it,” Neeson told Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes.
While the ski patrol insisted Richardson see a doctor, she declined. She later died of blunt trauma to the head, a spokesperson for the New York City medical examiner’s office told People. Her death was ruled an accident after an autopsy was performed.
Neeson and other family members were by her side when she died, reported ABC.
Her death was announced in a statement released by Neeson’s publicist.
“Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha,” the statement said. “They are profoundly grateful for the support, love, and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”
After Richardson’s funeral, the “Non-Stop” (2014) actor returned to work and has worked nearly nonstop since his wife’s passing. “I’m not good without work,” he told Cooper. “I just don’t—I just don’t wallow too much. You know? And I just didn’t want to—especially for my boys—seem to be wallowing in sadness or depression.”
After Richardson’s passing, Neeson adjusted to being a single parent to sons Micheal and Daniel.
On a lighter note, Neeson reminisced about when in 1993, he and Richardson starred together in “Anna Christie” on Broadway.
“I’d never had that kind of an explosive chemistry situation with an actor, or actress,” he told Cooper. “She and I were like [Fred] Astaire and [Ginger] Rogers. We had just this wonderful kind of dance, free dance on stage every night, you know?”
