One of the emergency first responders on the scene of the fatal car crash that claimed the life of Princess Diana 28 years ago today has shared the devastating final moments he spent with the princess
Princess Diana tragically died 28 years ago today, with her sudden death sending shockwaves around the world.
The princess was just 36 when she died following a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997, that also killed her companion Dodi Fayed and the vehicle’s driver. The car had crashed into the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in the French capital, with emergency services flocking to the scene in the aftermath of the devastating crash.
One of those on the scene was firefighter Xavier Gourmelon, who had no idea who Diana was when he first saw her in the wrecked vehicle.
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He didn’t believe the “blonde woman” in the back of the car was seriously injured as she had her eyes open, was conscious and talking.
Before she was taken out of the car, he held her hand and comforted her, telling her to stay calm. Diana then asked him: “My God, what’s happened?” Just moments later she suffered a cardiac arrest.
Mr Gourmelon previously told The Sun: “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.
“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.”
Despite doctors’ best efforts, Diana was declared dead at 4am local time, 3am in the UK, at Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris.
Tens of thousands came to pay their respects to the princess at her home in Kensington Palace, mourning the loss of a woman many of whom had never met. This cemented her legacy and forced the royals to recognise that she had connected with people in ways many of them had never been able to before.
Historian Ed Owens said: “I think we need to remind ourselves that she was probably the best-known woman in the English-speaking world, aside from perhaps Queen Elizabeth II herself.”
“And, given this massive celebrity persona that she had developed, to have that extinguished overnight, for her to die in such tragic circumstances, at such a young age, I think really came as a massive shock to many people.”
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