French doctor Frederic Mailliez, the first physician on the scene of Princess Diana's fatal car accident in Paris 20 years ago, says he gave first aid to the victims before knowing who he was treating.
Frederic Mailliez, the doctor who gave first aid to Princess Diana, answers The Associated Press, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Alexander Turnbull)
Mailliez was off-duty when he drove into the Alma road tunnel on Aug. 31, 1997, a few seconds after the high-speed crash.
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French doctor Frederic Mailliez, the first physician on the scene of Princess Diana's fatal car accident in Paris 20 years ago, says he gave first aid to the victims before knowing who he was treating.
Mailliez was off-duty when he drove into the Alma road tunnel on Aug. 31, 1997, a few seconds after the high-speed crash.
Diana was pronounced dead a few hours after the crash that occurred while she and her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, were being chauffeured by an intoxicated driver and pursued by photographers. A bodyguard was the car's sole survivor.
"They were reacting, but clearly had significant injuries," the doctor said. He immediately called for emergency rescue services and went to work without the medical equipment he would normally use in a life-threatening situation.
For a long time after, he wondered if he should have done anything differently, whether he could have done anything that would have saved the 36-year-old princess' life.
"She was endearing. She was apparently starting a new life. She seemed happy. And then she died in a stupid, dumb accident. A princess cannot die in a stupid accident," he said. "It's unfair. It's not normal. I think that's one of the reasons why people remember this accident as something tragic and unfair."
He wondered "why there were so many journalists around the Mercedes as I was giving first aid." It was only when he turned on his television the next morning that he learned the answer, Mailliez recounted Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press.
FILE - In this November, 1995 file photo, Britain's Diana, Princess of Wales, is shown. It has been 20 years since the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris and the outpouring of grief that followed the death of the “people’s princess.” (AP Photo/Eduardo Di Baia, File)
Diana was pronounced dead a few hours after the crash that occurred while she and her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, were being chauffeured by an intoxicated driver and pursued by photographers. A bodyguard was the car's sole survivor.
On that summer night, Mailliez, an emergency doctor, was driving along the Seine river and approaching the tunnel when he saw a smoky accident scene ahead. He stopped and went to investigate.
When he opened a door of the crumpled Mercedes, he saw four people, two of them in cardiac arrest. The other two, including Diana, were still alive.
Frederic Mailliez, the doctor who gave first aid to Princess Diana, answers The Associated Press, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Alexander Turnbull)
"They were reacting, but clearly had significant injuries," the doctor said. He immediately called for emergency rescue services and went to work without the medical equipment he would normally use in a life-threatening situation.
"I just had my bare hands," he lamented.
For several long minutes, Mailliez was the only doctor at the scene. His full attention went to the emergency before him and "at no point did I come to understand who these people were."
FILE - In this Tuesday Sept. 24, 1996 file photo, Britain's Diana, Princess of Wales, arrives for dinner in Washington.(AP Photo/Denis Paquin, File)
For a long time after, he wondered if he should have done anything differently, whether he could have done anything that would have saved the 36-year-old princess' life.
"I checked with myself and I checked also with other doctors, professors of medicine, and actually I couldn't have done anything better than what I did," he said.
Mailliez understands why people were, and still are, attached to Diana.
Frederic Mailliez, the doctor who gave first aid to Princess Diana, answers The Associated Press, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Alexander Turnbull)
"She was endearing. She was apparently starting a new life. She seemed happy. And then she died in a stupid, dumb accident. A princess cannot die in a stupid accident," he said. "It's unfair. It's not normal. I think that's one of the reasons why people remember this accident as something tragic and unfair."
The doctor says he doesn't "believe in destiny but it's still touching for me to think that I'm an emergency doctor, I speak English, and it happened that I arrived 30 seconds after the accident and I treated Princess Diana."
"I was there during her last minutes and maybe my words, when I spoke to her, were the last words she could hear."
FILE- In this early Sunday, Aug. 31, 1997 file photo, police services prepare to take away the car in which Britain's Diana, Princess of Wales, died in Paris, in a car crash that also killed her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, and the chauffeur. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The Paris Oympics flame was formally handed to French organizers on Friday in the all-marble stadium where the first modern Games were held in Athens in 1896.
Greek water polo player Ioannis Fountoulis, the last in a long line of torchbearers, used the flame to light a cauldron at the Panathenaic Stadium. From there, it was delivered to Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet.
A few moments of suspense followed as assistants struggled to light the lantern that will carry the flame to France.
“It wants to stay in Greece,” Estanguet joked.
Safely in the lantern, the flame will depart for France on Saturday on a 19th century sailing ship across the Mediterranean Sea, to make landfall 12 days later in the southern port city of Marseille.
The flame was kindled on April 16 at Olympia in southern Greece, where the ancient games were held for more than 1,000 years from about 776 B.C. to A.D. 393.
From Olympia's ancient stadium, a relay of torchbearers carried it along a 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) route through Greece, which included several islands and an overnight stop on the ancient Acropolis.
The Olympic flame will be housed overnight in the French Embassy, to leave Athens' port of Piraeus on Saturday on the Belem, a French three-masted sailing ship built in the year of the first modern games in Athens.
The Belem is due in Marseille on May 8, ahead of a relay through France leading to the opening ceremony in Paris.
The Games run from July 26-August 11.
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Performers wear different Greek traditional costumes during the Olympic flame handover ceremony at Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern games were held in 1896, in Athens, Friday, April 26, 2024. On Saturday the flame will board the Belem, a French three-masted sailing ship, built in 1896, to be transported to France. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024, waves while holding the Olympic flame during the flame handover ceremony at Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern games were held in 1896, in Athens, Friday, April 26, 2024. On Saturday the flame will board the Belem, a French three-masted sailing ship, built in 1896, to be transported to France. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Actress Mary Mina, playing an ancient Greek high priestess, gives the torch with the Olympic Flame to the head of Greece's Olympic Committee, Spyros Capralos, during the Olympic flame handover ceremony at Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern games were held in 1896, in Athens, Friday, April 26, 2024. On Saturday the flame will board the Belem, a French three-masted sailing ship, built in 1896, to be transported to France. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Greek Olympic medalist Ioannis Fountoulis lights the caldron with the Olympic Flame during the Olympic flame handover ceremony at Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern games were held in 1896, in Athens, Friday, April 26, 2024. On Saturday the flame will board the Belem, a French three-masted sailing ship, built in 1896, to be transported to France. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Beatrice Hess, France's greatest Paralympic champion, carries the Olympic flame during the flame handover ceremony at Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern games were held in 1896, in Athens, Friday, April 26, 2024. On Saturday the flame will board the Belem, a French three-masted sailing ship, built in 1896, to be transported to France.(AP Photo/Vasilis Psomas)
Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024, right, holds the Olympic flame while Spyros Capralos, head of Greece's Olympic Committee, left, applauds during the flame handover ceremony at Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern games were held in 1896, in Athens, Friday, April 26, 2024. On Saturday the flame will board the Belem, a French three-masted sailing ship, built in 1896, to be transported to France. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024, holds a torch with the Olympic flame during the flame handover ceremony at Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern games were held in 1896, in Athens, Friday, April 26, 2024. On Saturday the flame will board the Belem, a French three-masted sailing ship, built in 1896, to be transported to France. (AP Photo/Vasilis Psomas)
Actress Mary Mina, playing an ancient Greek high priestess, holds a torch with the Olympic Flame during the Olympic flame handover ceremony at Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern games were held in 1896, in Athens, Friday, April 26, 2024. On Saturday the flame will board the Belem, a French three-masted sailing ship, built in 1896, to be transported to France. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024, right, receives the Olympic flame from Spyros Capralos, head of Greece's Olympic Committee, during the flame handover ceremony at Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern games were held in 1896, in Athens, Friday, April 26, 2024. On Saturday the flame will board the Belem, a French three-masted sailing ship, built in 1896, to be transported to France. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024, holds the Olympic flame during the flame handover ceremony at Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern games were held in 1896, in Athens, Friday, April 26, 2024. On Saturday the flame will board the Belem, a French three-masted sailing ship, built in 1896, to be transported to France. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
