These were Princess Diana’s final words 20 years after death
20 years after her death, Princess Diana’s final words has been revealed on Good Morning Britain, August 31. To mark the 20th anniversary of her tragic death, Xavier Gourmelon, the French firefighter that tried to save her from the crash, spoke out about that devastating night.
Xavier Gourmelon, who says he’s giving the interview now because he’s now retired, spent 22 years as a firefighter in Paris said that it took his team “less than three minutes to reach” the Pont de l’Alma tunnel, where the crash had occurred.
Remembering back to when he arrived on the scene, he explained that none of the rescue team were aware that it was Diana trapped inside the vehicle.
“Nobody knew it was her, nobody had recognised her,” he said. “As I approached, I saw there was a blonde person.”
Xavier explained that Diana then momentarily regained consciousness when she saw him and she spoke her final words.
“She looked at me and said, ‘Oh my God, what is happening?’,” he continued. “She was bit agitated and I tried to calm her down and tell her we would look after her but she fell into a coma again.
“We then took her out of the car and put her on a stretcher. At that moment, the doctor said she was in cardiac arrest so we gave her CPR and after 20 seconds she regained consciousness.”
Despite the attempts to save her, Diana’s injuries were too severe; her heart had been displaced to the right side of her chest, which tore the pulmonary vein and the pericardium.
She died at 4am on Sunday, August 31, 1997 and the news was revealed two hours later.
“It was ordinary in terms of our involvement as firefighters,” added Xavier, “but it was extraordinary because of the person involved. Otherwise, it was an accident like any other.”
Firefighter at site of Princess Diana’s fatal car crash reveals harrowing details: ‘There was no blood on her at all’
In the interview, Gourmelon shares harrowing details of the fateful night, and revealed that his ten-man team “dealt with it like any road accident” and “got straight to work to see who needed help and who was alive.”
