The nurse who was unfortunately on the receiving end of a silly prank call regarding Kate Middleton’s state of being has committed suicide, the hospital confirms.
Jacinda Saldanha was on duty at King Edward VII Hospital when two radio personalities from Australia–Mel Greig and Michael Christian–phoned to ask about Kate’s condition while impersonating Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. Middleton was there for a brief stay after experiencing severe morning sickness with her just-announced pregnancy.
Saldanha unwittingly gave out Middleton’s private info to the pranksters, which made international headlines and swept the web. It’s unclear whether Saldanha was dressed down for the incident, but the hospital did release a statement saying they intended to review their telephone protocol.
“This was a foolish prank call that we all deplore,” hospital chief executive John Lofthouse said. “We take patient confidentiality extremely seriously and we are now reviewing our telephone protocols.”
While the radio hosts apologized for the prank earlier this week, they have yet to make a comment on Saldanha’s suicide. The hospital released a statement about her death, saying, “We can confirm that Jacintha was recently the victim of a hoax call to the hospital. The hospital had been supporting her throughout this difficult time. Jacintha has worked at the King Edward VII’s Hospital for more than four years. She was an excellent nurse and well-respected and popular with all of her colleagues.”