Outrage and grief pour out over nurse's death after royal prank call

The first image of Jacintha Saldanha made its way around the world on Saturday morning, a blurry head shot of the nurse who, in death, has become a lightning rod for the outrage that has erupted over a prank call.

In the wake of the tragedy that unfolded during the Duchess of Cambridge's stay at King Edward VII Hospital, there has been a mass outpouring of both sympathy for the family and anger at the Australian radio station that originated the call.

The chairman of King Edward VII  Hospital, Lord Glenarthur, has written to the head of the company that owns the station about the "appalling" prank that resulted in the "humiliation of two dedicated and caring nurses who were simply doing their job tending to their patients."

“The longer term consequence has been reported around the world and is, frankly, tragic beyond words,” he wrote.

It was Saldanha, 46, who was on duty at the switchboard when two hosts of an Australian radio station, 2Day FM, decided to try to get through to the Duchess of Cambridge's room at King Edward VII Hospital on Tuesday night.

Saldanha answered, transferred the call from someone she thought was the Queen, and that was it ... until chaos erupted when the call was found to be a hoax.

Whatever spun through Saldanha's mind over the next 48 hours, no one knows. All that is known is that she was found dead on Friday morning, which many are calling a suspected suicide, though he police only say that her death wasn't "suspicious."

The Australian radio station has been swamped with complaints over the prank which has turned so horribly wrong. At a press conference, Rhys Holleran, the CEO of the station's parent company, expressed sympathies to all involved, but stopped short of admitting any guilt.

"Prank calls as a craft in radio have been going for decades and decades, they are not just part of one radio station, or one network or one country, they are done worldwide," said Holleran (right). "No one could have reasonably foreseen what ended up being an incredibly tragic day."

As for the hosts, Mel Greig and Christian Michael, they have been pulled off the air until further notice. The Twitter world has been awash in calls for their dismissal.

"I spoke to both presenters early this morning and it's fair to say they are completely shattered," said Holleran. "These people aren't machines, they're human beings. What happened is incredibly tragic and we're deeply saddened and we're incredibly affected by that."

Holleran insisted no laws had been broken. The audio of the original prank call had been vetted by station lawyers before it went to air.

Saldanha, a married mother of a teenaged son and daughter, apparently came to England from India about nine years ago and settled in Bristol. She had been working at the King Edward VII Hospital for four years. She would stay in London while working and travel back to her Bristol home on off days.

The hospital has insisted that the nurse was never disciplined over the hoax.

Her husband, Benedict Barboza, a hospital accountant, wrote on his Facebook page: "I am devastated with the tragic loss of my beloved wife Jahintha in tragic circumstances. She will be laid to rest in Shirva, India."

Barboza relayed the news to her family in India.

"Jacintha was a very caring woman," her mother-in-law Carmine Barboza told the Daily Mail. "She used to call us every Sunday without fail. We just cannot believe what has happened."

Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge said they were "deeply saddened" by the tragedy and added that at no time did they complain about the breach of protocol that led to the prank call uncovering private information about Kate's condition as she battled acute morning sickness.

A bunch of flowers is left outside the nurses accommodation block by colleagues near the King Edward VII Hospital on Saturday in memory of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, who was found dead the previous day. (AFP/Getty Images)

 

MORE: Dimanno: Nurse was a ictim of a cruel culture

 

 

Comments

[LaryOly]

The CEO of the radio station's parent company also said that the DJs were "completely shattered" and urged the public to remember that they are "human beings with feelings, not machines". If those two idiots had remembered that the complete stranger they were humiliating was a "human being with feelings", and that Kate herself is a "human being with feelings", they wouldn't have pulled their stupid prank..........Pranks derive their "humour" from humiliating another person. When you pull a prank on a complete stranger, you have no way of knowing if they have physical or mental health issues that could cause them to react very badly. Are you willing to accept responsibility for that?

[LaryOly]

I know what the next jobs will be for those DJs: (ring, ring) "Congratulations! You've just won a free cruise! All I need is a credit card number for you to claim your prize..."

[LaryOly]

"No laws were broken"??? And just how is this case any different from the crime of "blagging", in which tabloid reporters phoned hospitals and impersonated celebrity patients, in order to get access to those patients' private medical information?

[Jairus Maus]

If the new test for "doing the right thing" is whether any laws were broken then we really have hit bottom. The cherished right to free speech does not mean that you are free of the consequences of your chosen words and the technology that now provides access to the entire world amplifies the power of the words and the responsibility that comes with it. People take pride in their jobs and value their personal dignity and to say that the harm in this case could not be foreseen is arrogant and careless.

[SD]

no laws broken? from what I've read - Australia requires 2 party consent to record a telephone call. There may be a case.

[Barraman]

So. They're shattered. They're not machines...they're human beings. Great. Super. And what about those who they hold up to public ridicule through their pranks? They're not human? Even the Royal Family...privileges and all...are not permitted to be thought of a human when they are hospitalized? No privacy whatever? And this poor woman...held up to ridicule all over the planet...no thought whatsoever that she too is a human being with feelings and hopes and dreams? And we are supposed to worry about the coarse, heartless media thugs who so gleefully embarrassed, and twittered about doing it, this poor woman and mother to her grave? Not I.

[stephen adamo]

when recording an int'l telephone call both parties(caller & reciever) must be informed and aware of the fact. LAW BROKEN

[@ultimatetoronto]

Having the DJ's take a leave of absence was the right call here.

[Rahul]

Another situation where there is a blur between moral and legal. If we would stop worrying about legal and ask the question, "Is this decision I am about to make moral and ethical, would I still do it?" we would all live happier and more peaceable lives.

[Duke Smith]

So because the DJ's forgot that they were tormenting human beings, we should now forget that the DJ's are human beings and torment them? I like how you guys think.

[Rt Hon Andy Garrett]

The nurse clearly overreacted to what any sensible person would understand was a joke. She wasn't the first nor the last to have this kind of comedy prank played on by a DJ. Only the sanctimonious CBC and other media outlets have blown it way out of proportion. Follow the money.

[Waffa]

"Jacintha was a very caring woman," her mother-in-law Carmine Barboza told the Daily Mail. "She used to call us every Sunday without fail. We just cannot believe what has happened."

When Barboza did that ?

[shayari]

If the new test for "doing the right thing" is whether any laws were broken then we really have hit bottom. The cherished right to free speech does not mean that you are free of the consequences of your chosen words and the technology that now provides access to the entire world amplifies the power of the words and the responsibility that comes with it. People take pride in their jobs and value their personal dignity and to say that the harm in this case could not be foreseen is arrogant and careless.