FRANCE: DOCTOR SPEAKS OF HIS ATTEMPTS TO SAVE PRINCESS DIANA

(25 Aug 1998) Eng/French/Nat
The first doctor to arrive at the scene of the crash speaks about his attempts to save Diana.
The first medic to arrive at the scene of the crash which killed Diana, Princess of Wales, has spoken to APTV about that fateful night.
Dr Frederic Mailliez was the first to treat Diana but says, at the time, he wasn't even aware whose life he was trying to save.
He says the Princess was almost unconscious and incapable of saying anything intelligible in the moments before her death.
Rumours of Diana's supposed last words have swirled around for months, with several different sources claiming to have heard them.
Dr Frederic Mailliez works for a French 24-hour emergency medical service called S-O-S Medecins.
By a twist of fate, he arrived at the scene of Diana's car crash within a minute of it happening.
He had been at a birthday party and was on his way home - taking his usual route through the Pont de l'Alma tunnel.
He asked a friend to put the flashlight on the roof of his car to prevent a pile-up in the tunnel and ran to the wreckage to provide assistance.
Speaking at the site of the crash almost a year later, Dr Mailliez recounted the events leading up to his arrival on the scene.
SOUNDBITE: (French)
"I was coming back from the western suburb of Paris, from Boulogne, where I had been at a birthday party. I was on my way home, and my usual route is via the Alma bridge. When I arrived, at the point you start driving down into the tunnel, I saw smoke billowing from the tunnel and the traffic slowing down in front of me. On the other lane, there was this big dark car which was in the reverse sense of traffic and which had visibly crashed. So I stopped near the car to see what was happening."
SUPER CAPTION: Dr Frederic Mailliez
Dr Mailliez was off duty so he only had a resuscitation mask in his car.
He said he did all he could to help before the emergency services arrived.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"As soon as I saw the inside of the car, I saw four people. Two of them were already dead, and two severely injured. So I ran back to my car to phone the emergency services, saying that there was an accident at the Pont de l'Alma with four people - two dead, two severely injured - the first medical assessment in fact. I asked for two emergency ambulances and all the equipment for this kind of accident. And I went to my trunk, to get some equipment. I was off duty, so I hadn't that much equipment - I just had a resuscitation mask, so that's what I took - and I ran back to the wreckage to give assistance to the victims."
SUPER CAPTION: Dr Frederic Mailliez
Dr Mailliez says he didn't realise who was inside the vehicle.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I didn't recognise anybody. Princess Diana was turning her back to me, she was pale, and I didn't expect her to be in this car."
SUPER CAPTION: Dr Frederic Mailliez
One thing Dr Mailliez is clear about is the condition Diana was in when he treated her.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"You know, I arrived 30 seconds or less than one minute after the accident. When I arrived, she was almost unconscious and she couldn't say anything, anything intelligible. I couldn't understand anything. She was just moaning."
SUPER CAPTION: Dr Frederic Mailliez
Memories of the night continue to haunt Dr Mailliez who says he feels pained by the continuous speculation and rumours that surround the crash.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
SUPER CAPTION: Dr Frederic Mailliez
A firefighter was also at the scene there by chance and gave assistance to bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones who was trapped on the right front seat.
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