A SAD END FOR WILLS
THE last patient Prince William attended during his final shift as an air ambulance pilot on Thursday died of her injuries yesterday.
The unnamed woman, who was in her 50s, was hit by an unmarked police van whose crew were looking for her after a 999 caller reported her missing.
Co-pilot William, 35, and his senior pilot Captain Dave Kelly touched down in a meadow next to the road at 11.13pm after dodging bullocks and sheep.
Emergency workers cut a barbed wire fence and flattened a hedge to allow access for a stretcher carrying the critically injured woman.
The Duke is believed to have stood guard to stop the cattle approaching their H145 helicopter at Hethel, near Norwich.
The patient suffered serious head and leg injuries, and was flown to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, where she later died.
The meadow at White Gables Farm is farmed by Brian Harvey, 74, who said: “We always go to bed at 10pm and I heard this helicopter. But I never knew anything had happened until the morning when a policeman knocked on my door at 7am.”
The Independent Police Complaints Commission has begun an investigation.
Before his final shift, William said he was “hugely grateful” for the two years he had spent as an East Anglian Air Ambulance co-pilot.