Gwyneth Paltrow ski crash: Man suing film star describes moment of impact
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The man suing Gwyneth Paltrow over a 2016 skiing accident has said he heard a “blood-curdling scream” moments before the actress collided with him.
Taking the stand for the first time, retired optometrist Terry Sanderson described the moment of impact at Deer Valley Resort, Utah.
The 76-year-old said: “It takes my breath away – this is hard, I don’t like going through this scene.
“I just remember everything was great and then I heard something I’ve never heard at a ski resort – a blood-curdling scream and then – boom – and it was like somebody was out of control, hit a tree and was going to die, and that’s what I heard until I was hit.”
He claimed before the incident he had been “making nice soft turns” with “lots of room”.
Mr Sanderson said he had “never” been in a skiing accident before.
He said he didn’t remember speaking to Ms Paltrow immediately after the crash and claimed that he didn’t think “it was cool to collide with a celebrity” despite having written to his daughters hours after the crash, “I’m famous”, claiming his “head was scrambled” at the time.
Mr Sanderson is seeking damages of a minimum of $300,000 (£244,000). Paltrow has denied she caused the accident and is counter-suing for $1.
Deer Valley ski instructor, Eric Christiansen, who had been on the run at the time of the crash, also took to the stand.
He was shown a reconstructive animation of the crash by Paltrow’s lawyer which featured multiple people on the slope.
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Mr Christiansen said: “Mr Sanderson never said ‘you [Paltrow] ran into me’ or anything of that nature.”
The instructor denied that Ms Paltrow’s son, Moses, was distracting her at the time of the crash and insisted it was “ridiculous” to claim he had been hostile towards Mr Sanderson.
“Deer Valley takes their guests very seriously, and if an instructor has a confrontation with a guest, we don’t last,” he said.
He said Mr Sanderson had “refused help” from a ski patrol following the collision.
“If either skier had said ‘I’m hurt, I need assistance’, that would have changed everything, that would have made it so we all stayed on the scene,” he said.
“If anyone is hurt, [ski] patrol will have to be called, statements will be made, patrol will assess injuries.”
Mr Christiansen denied there had been a “cover-up” to protect Paltrow.
