LONDON (AP) - It started out as a joke, but ended in tragedy.
The sudden death of a nurse who unwittingly
accepted a prank call to a London hospital about Prince William's
pregnant wife Kate has shocked Britain and Australia, and sparked an
angry backlash Saturday from some who argue the DJs who carried out the
hoax should be held responsible.
At first, the call by two irreverent Australian DJs
posing as royals was picked up by news outlets around the world as an
amusing anecdote about the royal pregnancy. Some complained about the
invasion of privacy, the hospital was embarrassed, and the radio
presenters sheepishly apologized.
But the prank took a dark twist Friday with the
death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, a 46-year-old mother of two, three
days after she took the hoax call. Police have not yet determined
Saldanha's cause of death, but people from London to Sydney have been
making the assumption that she died because of stress from the call.
King Edward VII's Hospital, where the former Kate
Middleton was being treated for acute morning sickness this week, wrote a
strongly-worded letter to the 2DayFM radio station's parent company
Southern Cross Austereo, condemning the "truly appalling" hoax and
urging it to take steps to ensure such an incident would never happen
again.
"The immediate consequence of these premeditated
and ill-considered actions was the humiliation of two dedicated and
caring nurses who were simply doing their job tending to their
patients," the letter read. "The longer term consequence has been
reported around the world and is, frankly, tragic beyond words."
The hospital did not comment when asked whether it
believed the prank call had directly caused Saldanha's death, only
saying that the protest letter spoke for itself.
DJs Mel Grieg and Michael Christian, who apologized
for the prank on Tuesday, took down their Twitter accounts after they
were bombarded by thousands of abusive comments. Rhys Holleran, CEO of
Southern Cross Austereo, said the pair have been offered counseling and
were taken off the air indefinitely.
No one could have foreseen the tragic consequences of the prank, he stressed.
"I spoke to both presenters early this morning and
it's fair to say they're completely shattered," Holleran told reporters
on Saturday.
"These people aren't machines, they're human beings," he said. "We're all affected by this."
Details about Saldanha have been trickling out
since the duty nurse's body was found at apartments provided by the
private hospital, which has treated a line of royals before, including
Prince Philip, who was hospitalized there for a bladder infection in
June.
The nurse, who was originally from India, had lived
with her partner Benedict Barboza and a teenage son and daughter in
Bristol, in southwestern England, for the past nine years. The hospital
praised her as a "first-class nurse" who was well-respected and popular
among colleagues during her four years working there.
Just before dawn on Tuesday, Saldanha was looking
after her patients when the phone rang. A woman pretending to be Queen
Elizabeth II asked to speak to the duchess, and, believing the caller,
Saldanha transferred the call to a fellow nurse caring for the duchess,
who spoke to the two DJs about Kate's condition live on air.
During the call - which was put online and later
broadcast on news channels worldwide - Grieg mimicked the Britain's
monarch's voice and asked about the duchess' health. She was told Kate
"hasn't had any retching with me and she's been sleeping on and off."
Grieg and Christian, who pretended to be Prince Charles, also discussed
with the nurse when they could travel to the hospital to check in on
Kate.
Three days later, officers responding to reports
that a woman was found unconscious discovered Saldanha, who was
pronounced dead at the scene. Police didn't release a cause of death,
but said they didn't find anything suspicious. A coroner will make a
determination on the cause.
In the aftermath of Saldanha's death, some
speculated about whether the nurse was subject to pressure to resign or
about to be punished for the mistake. Royal officials said Prince
William and Kate were "deeply saddened," but insisted that the palace
had not complained about the hoax. King Edward VII's Hospital also
maintained that it did not reprimand Saldanha.
"We did not discipline the nurse in question. There
were no plans to discipline her," a hospital spokesman said. He
declined to provide further details, and did not respond to questions
about the second nurse's condition.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority,
which regulates radio broadcasting, said it has received complaints
about the prank and is discussing the matter with the Sydney-based
station, which yanked its Facebook page after it received thousands of
angry comments.
Holleran, the radio executive, would not say who
came up with the idea for the call. He only said that "these things are
often done collaboratively." He said 2DayFM would work with authorities,
but was confident the station hadn't broken any laws, noting that prank
calls in radio have been happening "for decades."
The station has a history of controversy, including
a series of "Heartless Hotline" shows in which disadvantage people were
offered a prize that could be taken away from them by listeners.
Saldanha's family asked for privacy in a brief statement issued through London police.
Flowers were left outside the hospital's nurse's
apartments, with one note reading: "Dear Jacintha, our thoughts are with
you and your family. From all your fellow nurses, we bless your soul.
God bless."
Officials from St. James's Palace have said the
duchess is not yet 12 weeks pregnant. The child would be the first for
her and William.
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