Diana's final moments: French medic recounts 'tragic night'

The woman was unconscious and having trouble breathing as she lay slumped on the floor of a wrecked Mercedes. She was unknown to the French doctor, who concentrated on attempting to save her. Frederic Mailliez's memory of what transpired in the Alma Tunnel in Paris on August 31, 1997, and the knowledge that he was one of the last persons to see Princess Diana alive, are still vivid 25 years later.

As per AP reports,Mailliez, who was returning from a party when hesaw the car collide.“I realize my name will always be attached to this tragic night,”he said.

Mailliez noticed a flaming Mercedes that was almost in pieces that evening as he was entering the tunnel.“I walked toward the wreckage. I opened the door, and I looked inside,” he said.

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What he saw: “Four people, two of them were apparently dead, no reaction, no breathing, and the two others, on the right side, were living but in severe condition. The front passenger was screaming, he was breathing. He could wait a few minutes. And the female passenger, the young lady, was on her knees on the floor of the Mercedes, she had her head down. She had difficulty to breathe. She needed quick assistance.”

He sprinted to his car to dial 911 and get a respiratory bag.

“She was unconscious,” he said. “Thanks to my respiratory bag (...) she regained a little bit more energy, but she couldn’t say anything.”

The doctor then learned, along with the rest of the world, that the patient he had been treating was Diana, the beloved national treasure of Britain.

“I know it’s surprising, but I didn’t recognize Princess Diana,” he said. “I was in the car on the rear seat giving assistance. I realized she was very beautiful, but my attention was so focused on what I had to do to save her life, I didn’t have time to think, who was this woman.”

“Someone behind me told me the victims spoke English, so I began to speak English, saying I was a doctor and I called the ambulance,” he said. “I tried to comfort her.”

He was working when he saw the paparazzi assemble to capture the action in the flash of camera bulbs. Henri Paul, Diana's driver, was discovered by a British inquest to have been intoxicated and speeding to avoid pursuing cameras.

Mailliez said he had “no reproach” toward the photographers’ actions after the crash. “They didn’t hamper me having access to the victims. ... I didn’t ask them for help, but they didn’t interfere with my job.”

Diana was promptly rescued from the fire and sent to a hospital in Paris, where she passed away a short while later. Her driver and her companion Dodi Fayed also passed away.

“It was a massive shock to learn that she was Princess Diana and that she died,” Mailliez said. Then self-doubt set in. “Did I do everything I could to save her? Did I do correctly my job?” he asked himself. “I checked with my medical professors and I checked with police investigators,” he said, and they agreed he did all he could.

The anniversary is stirring up those memories again, but they also come back “each time I drive through the Alma Tunnel,” he said.

Cars streamed in and out of the tunnel while Mailliez spoke, passing the pillar where Diana crashed, which now had a stencil drawing of Diana's face.

Diana admirers of many ages and nationalities visit the neighboring Flame of Liberty memorial site, which has evolved into a memorial. Even for people born after her passing, she has become as a timeless symbol of liberation and a style authority.

(With inputs from agencies)

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