Family tells of lasting effect on health of man after skiing crash with Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow was expected to testify late last night at the end of the first week of a trial over a 2016 ski collision at a Utah mountain resort.

- Ed Helmore

Mark Stephen Herath, the brother of Terry Sanderson's son-in-law, was first on the stand to testify yesterday, and talked about the lingering effects of the incident on Sanderson, the 76-year-old retired optometrist who is suing Paltrow.

Herath said: "His comprehension had gone down, he'd get confused... It was like day and night before and after the accident. I think he tried to go skiing a couple of times but I don't think he's gone since the accident."

He called Sanderson's condition "a dead end", and added: "He wasn't mentally prepared to go skiing again."

Sanderson's daughter Shae Herath also took the stand yesterday, telling the court: "The issue to his brain has caused significant damage, enough to change his personality. My dad is very insecure, he doesn't trust his brain anymore.

"It is incredibly hard, he used to be able to multitask. My dad used to be a really good listener," she added.

In a trial that is due to last eight days, with each side getting four days to call their witnesses, yesterday marked the final day Sanderson's attorneys could compel Paltrow to testify. In previous depositions she has said she "froze" when the crash happened, while she was on a beginners' slope with one of her children.

"We came crashing down together. This man was behind me on the mountain," she said in November 2020. "My knee - and our skis were still sort of tangled up. Our bodies were almost spooning and I moved away quickly. And my knee splayed open, and I was in shock."