A prank for a life.
The 4th of December 2012 at 05.30 in the morning a British nurse named Jacintha Saldanha who worked at King Edward the 7th’s hospital, received a phone call from two persons claiming to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. They wanted to check how the pregnant duchess Catherine (Kate) was doing. She was a patient at the hospital because of constant pregnancy illness. The nurse believed them and kindly connected them to the staff taking care of the duchess, who gave them confidential information about the duchess’ condition.
The nurses had no idea that the two persons were in fact just two radio hosts from an Australian radio station who was pulling them a prank. The nurse ridiculed in the radio all over the world.
The 7th of December 2012 the nurse was found dead near the hospital. A last letter was left for her family before she had taken her own life because of the embarrassment and shame this all made her feel.
Jacintha was a British, 46 year old woman with an Indian background. She was the mother of two children. Her family and colleagues were shocked and thought that the Australian radio station took advantage of two kind and caring nurses. Her husband Benedict Barbosa was devastated and he did not know anything about it before after she killed herself.
The royal family has on their website published their emotions about this tragic episode. The two hosts who are named Mel Greig and Michael Christian are also devastated. The radio stations manager does not wish to apologize for anything because he thinks that phone pranks are a completely normal thing in the radio business. However, many publishers have contacted him and ended their co-operation and the two hosts have been removed from their work at the station. They are now hated all over the world and the criticism of this situation is constantly booming on facebook and in the papers.
It is obvious to see that people all over the world are deeply in shock...