On August 31, 1997, the tragic death of Princess Diana, aged 36, in a car accident, had moved the whole world.
Almost 25 years later, the firefighter who was by his side after the accident confided in an interview with the Sun.
Xavier Gourmelon explained that he did not recognize Princess Diana at first. He thought that “the blond woman”as he then identified her, was not seriously injured as she was still conscious when he spoke to her.
He held her hand and tried to reassure her to keep don calm. As she got out of the car, Diana then said to the firefighter: “My God, what happened?”
These were the last words of Lady Di who then went into cardiac arrest.
Xavier Gourmelon explains that he did not think she was going to die: “I started resuscitating her and after a few seconds she was breathing again. I was relieved because as a firefighter you just want to save lives. Honestly I thought she would survive. As far as I know , she was still alive when she was taken away by the ambulance.”
He learned of her death shortly after but he was the last person she spoke to.
“I know she had internal bleeding, but it’s all still very fresh in my memory. The memory I have of that night will stay with me forever.”he concludes.