A first responder firefighter who tried to save Princess Diana has revealed what her last words in Paris, France at the scene of the accident.
Princess Diana suffered a fatal car crash in a tunnel in Paris, France during the early hours of August 31, 1997 which unfortunately lead to her death.
The firefighter, Xavier Gourmelon has recently revealed more about Princess Diana’s final moments back in the tunnel.
Talking to the media for the first time, Xavier Gourmelon shared what her last words were before she passed away. After she was pulled from the Mercedes, the Princess was placed on a stretcher while she was still conscious, he told The Sun.
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Unfortunately, she immediately went into cardiac arrest. Nonetheless, the first responder was able to perform CPR and resuscitate her. Therefore, he was shocked to find out that Princess Di passed away a few hours later in hospital despite surgeons’ best efforts.
He shared regarding the incident, “We were very close to [where the crash took place] and it took less than three minutes to reach it. My ten-man team was in two trucks and we were first to arrive. The car was in a mess and we just dealt with it like any road accident. We got straight to work to see who needed help and who was alive. Diana said to me, ‘My God, what’s happened?’ The woman, who I later found out was Princess Diana, was on the floor in the back. She was moving very slightly and I could see she was alive. I could see she had a slight injury to her right shoulder but, other than that, there was nothing significant.
There was no blood on her at all. I held her hand and told her to be calm and keep still, I said I was there to help and reassured her. She said, ‘My God, what’s happened?’ I gave her some oxygen and my team and I stayed by her side as she was taken out of the car. It was very quick because we didn’t have to cut any of the wreckage.”
He then described the terrifying moment when the Princess stopped breathing. “We are all trained to give first aid and I saw that she suffered a cardiac arrest and stopped breathing,” he disclosed. “I massaged her heart and a few seconds later she started breathing again. It was a relief of course because, as a first responder, you want to save lives — and that’s what I thought I had done. To be honest I thought she would live. As far as I knew when she was in the ambulance she was alive and I expected her to live. But I found out later she had died in hospital. It was very upsetting. I know now that there were serious internal injuries, but the whole episode is still very much in my mind. And the memory of that night will stay with me forever. I had no idea then that it was Princess Diana. It was only when she had been put into the ambulance that one of the paramedics told me it was her.”
Gourmelon also shared how he still remembers all the little details of the experience. He said, “I was so shocked. I knew who she was, but don’t follow British royalty closely. I went to the ambulance and looked in and that’s when I recognized her. I can still picture it now in my mind. This is the first time I have spoken to the media. As a fireman, you are part of the French military so you are forbidden to talk. Now I have left the fire service I felt it was OK. For me, this was simply a banal traffic accident, one of many that emergency services have to deal with and it was the usual causes, speed, and a drunk driver. When I got to the car I could see the driver was already dead and there was nothing that could be done for him.”
Following what he believed to be a routine stop, he phoned his wife immediately to let her know what had just happened. “She was asleep and I told her about the accident and Princess Diana. I said that she had suffered a cardiac arrest but I’d managed to revive her,” the former firefighter shared. “I can still picture the whole scene. It’s something I’ll never forget and that I always think about at this time of year.” Princess Diana’s state funeral was held on September 6, 1997, in London, United Kingdom. While she was the black sheep of the Royal family, there is no doubt that she is missed deeply.
Source: OccupyGh.com
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