Jacintha Saldanha, British nurse pranked during Kate Middleton stay, commits suicide
British nurse Jacintha Saldanha found dead in suspected suicide two days after she was tricked into revealing condition information about pregnant Kate Middleton to Australian shock jocks.
Kate Middleton’s pranked nurse commits suicide. photo Carfax 2 cropped/touched up by Surtsicna
Saldanha’s lifeless body was found the same week she accidentally put prank callers Mel Greig and Michael Christian through to another nurse, who divulged private information about the Duchess of Cambridge.
UPDATE: Statements from the radio stations, photo of Jacintha Saldanha – read more here
The prank call to the King Edward VII’s Hospital employee infuriated Buckingham Palace and led to taunting tweets from DJs that brag about the trick.
“Jacintha has worked at the King Edward VII Hospital for more than four years,” a statement from the hospital revealed.
“She was an excellent nurse and well respected and popular with all over her colleagues. We can confirm that Jacintha was recently the victim of a hoax call to the hospital. The hospital has been supporting her at this difficult time.”
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “Police were called at approximately 9.35am this morning to a report of a woman found unconscious at an address in Weymouth Street, W1.
“London Ambulance Service attended and the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Inquiries are continuing to establish the circumstances of the incident.
“The death is not being treated as suspicious at this stage.”
Hospital chief executive John Lofthouse condemned the hoax call, made in the early hours of Tuesday.
In a statement issued later on Tuesday, Mr Lofthouse said: “I think this whole thing is pretty deplorable, our nurses are caring, professional people trained to look after patients, not to cope with journalistic trickery of this sort.”
He said there was no chance the Duchess could have received the call, adding: “Technically I think this was a breach of patient confidentiality, which I very much regret. Having said that, the information which was inadvertently revealed is already in the public domain.”
The 2Day FM presenters, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, later apologised for their actions as did their radio station.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/receptionist-duped-royal-prank-dies-article-1.1215432#ixzz2EOOFi5BP
[…] Saldanha was found Friday by co-workers hanging from a wardrobe door at the hospital’s living quarters, a coroner’s court […]
Nevertheless the behavior of the radio outlet does force a dialogue as to what really counts for entertainment, thoughtful commentary and insight and whether on some level journalism is becoming increasingly invasive, intrusive and akin to a form of bullying….?
http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2012/12/despite-kate-middleton-nurse-suicide-2dayfm-refuses-to-fire-djs-says-they-are-the-real-victims/
[…] 4, have released a statement after Jacintha Saldanha, the mother of two who transferred the call, was found dead on December […]