Nurse Commits Suicide After Taking Prank Call At Kate Middleton’s Hospital: What Happened?
December 7, 2012 by Hollywoodite
Well, this is a horribly tragic end to a week that already included voyeuristic murder on the cover of the New York Post. Earlier in the week, a nurse took a prank call from two Australian radio hosts pretending to be members of the British royal family who were quickly transferred to Kate Middleton’s ward where they were given invasive information about the royal’s medical condition. This morning, the woman who took and transferred the call has been found dead.
Police sources tell TMZ.com “ it’s an obvious suicide.” Also, “Scotland Yard is treating the death as a possible suicide.” Moreover, “cops are not planning on conducting a criminal investigation into the death at this point and believe there was no foul play.”
2Day FM presenters Mel Greig and Michael Christian had phoned London’s King Edward VII hospital and imitated the Queen of England and Prince Charles. Jacintha Saldanha took the call, fell for the hoax, and transferred the call to Middleton’s ward where another nurse revealed confidential information about pregnant Middleton’s condition.
Initially, the prank was proudly broadcast on the station’s YouTube channel. Today, in light of the news, it’s since been made private. The comments on the video before it was pulled included things like “the Brits on here are just mad they got pranked”… to paraphrase. The station were admittedly surprised it worked, saying earlier this week: “We were very surprised that our call was put through. We thought we’d be hung up on as soon as they heard our terrible accents. We’re very sorry if we’ve caused any issues and we’re glad to hear that Kate is doing well.” Here’s the audio that’s been uploaded elsewhere.
The BBC reports: “A nurse [named as Jacintha Saldanha] at a London hospital who took a hoax call about the Duchess of Cambridge has been found dead… BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said he understood Mrs Saldanha, who was married with two children, was the person who answered the call from the Australian DJs and was not the nurse who discussed the duchess’s medical condition… Mrs Saldanha, a duty nurse, answered the telephone because it was 05:30 GMT in the morning and there was no receptionist on duty. The BBC understands Mrs Saldanha had not been suspended or disciplined by the hospital [but]… she had felt ‘very lonely and confused’ as a result of what had happened.”
The Duke and Duchess have issued a statement: “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Jacintha Saldanha. Their Royal Highnesses were looked after so wonderfully well at all times by everybody at King Edward VII Hospital, and their thoughts and prayers are with Jacintha Saldanha’s family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time.”
The hospital released a statement at a press conference this morning.
The radio station hasn’t issued a statement about this yet although it’s “preparing” one now.
The BBC also notes that the same station has been in trouble before ”when a 14-year-old girl revealed on air that she had been raped.”