Actor Liam Neeson has told of his grief over the tragic death of his actress wife Natasha Richardson in a freak skiing accident five years ago.

Neeson, 61, whose latest film Non Stop is due to open on Feb 28, reveals his pain during an emotional interview with CBS’s Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes.

The star described how he arrived at a Canadian hospital, where medics informed him that the accident had left Richardson brain dead at the age of 45.

Neeson said: “She was on life support… I went in to her and I told her I loved her, said ‘Sweetie, you’re not coming back from this, you’ve banged your head.’

“She and I had made a pact, if any of us got into a vegetative state that we’d pull the plug. That was my immediate thought,’Okay, these tubes have to go. She’s gone.’”

The couple were married in 1994 and had two sons.

Neeson said that he still expects Richardson to come walking through the door.

“[Her death] was never real,” he confided.

“It still kind of isn’t. There’s periods now in our New York residence when I hear the door opening, especially the first couple of years… anytime I hear that door opening, I still think I’m going to hear her.”

Following the tragic accident, Richardson was kept on life support for a short time so that her family and friends could say goodbye.

Neeson says Richardson is now living on in three other people, having donated her heart, her kidneys and her liver.

* You can catch the interview on CBS on Sunday (Feb 23). For great TV go to FilmOn.com