A suicide note left by the nurse who was tricked in 2DayFM’s royal prank call could shed some light on the circumstances surrounding her death.
Jacintha Saldhana, a 46-year-old mother of two, was found dead in her apartment near the King Edward VII Hospital last week.
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It has since emerged that she left a note for her family, but the contents of the letter has not been revealed.
Mrs Saldhana was duped by a pair of Sydney radio DJs Michael Christian and Melissa Greig, into transferring a prank call in which they impersonated the Queen and Prince Charles, to the ward where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for acute morning sickness.
Since news of her death emerged three days later, the young radio hosts have copped much of the blame for the tragedy, and have expressed their remorse.
“There’s not a minute that goes by where we don’t think about her family and what they must be going through,” Greig told A Current Affair.
“These prank calls are made every day, on every radio station, in every country in the world and they have been for a long time and no-one could’ve imagined this to happen.”
As an investigation is underway as to who made the call to put the conversation revealing the Duchess’ medical details to air, 2DayFM’s parent company Austereo has told the hospital they will happily comply with any investigations into the incident.
“It is too early to know the full details leading to this tragic event and we are anxious to review the results of an investigation that may be made available to us or made public. We can assure you that we will be fully cooperative with all investigations,” a letter to the hospital said.
While the radio station initially pulled advertising from its airwaves following backlash over the call, they have since resumed ads and have said they will donate all profits to a memorial fund to benefit the family of Jacintha Saldanha, pledging a minimum of $500,000.
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The 2DayFM Christmas party was also cancelled yesterday, with $13,000 that would have paid for the bar tab instead donated to charities Lifeline and Beyond Blue.
Mrs Saldhana’s family have said they are grateful for the support and messages of condolences from home and abroad, but they “miss her every moment of every day”.
A post-mortem examination and inquest will be carried out by Scotland Yard this week, where it is expected Mrs Saldanha’s death will be formally ruled a suicide.
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