Son of royal prank call nurse tells of pride over university place
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Version 0 of 1. The son of a nurse who took her own life after a prank call to a hospital treating the Duchess of Cambridge has said she would have been “very proud” of him achieving his dream to study architecture. Junal Barboza, 19, was named student of the year at his Bristol sixth form college last year despite the terrible circumstances of his mother Jacintha Saldanha’s death just as he was beginning his A-levels. Having attained top grades to secure a university place to read architecture, he said: “As my mum would, I set high standards for myself to strive for the best. I hope she would be very proud.” Saldanha, 46, was a night sister at King Edward VII hospital in London when she took a call from two Australian radio DJs impersonating the Queen and Prince Charles inquiring after the duchess, who was pregnant and had been admitted with an acute form of morning sickness. Saldanha, a devout Catholic originally from India, passed the call to another nurse who gave out details, and the call was broadcast on Australian radio and then around the globe. Three days later Saldanha was found hanged in the nurses’ accommodation where she stayed while working at the hospital. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Barboza, who was 17 at the time of his mother’s death in December 2012, said he, his accountant father Benedict and his sister Janice Lisha, then 14, were among few who had not heard of the hoax call. “Normally we watch the news, but we were busy and it somehow skipped past us,” he said. “We must have been the only three in the country that had no idea.” At a memorial service before Saldanha’s funeral in India, Barboza read out a statement describing the family’s loss. “The house is an empty dwelling without your presence,” he said. “We are shattered and there is an unfillable void in our lives.” On the family’s return home from India, they found a handwritten letter from Prince William on their doormat, which read: “Jacintha and her colleagues looked after us extremely well and I am just so sorry that someone who cared for others so much found themselves in such a desperate situation.” Barboza and his sister returned to school in March 2013. “We just helped each other get through each day. The memories never fade. It may be less visible physically, but mentally it is still scarring,” he told the Sunday Telegraph. His decision to study architecture was, in part, inspired by his mother. “She was the designer of the family and the artist as well. She would always help me with my drawing and I hope I have inherited a bit of that,” he said. The year after her death, he restarted his AS levels while also finishing his A-levels, giving up football and a temp job in McDonalds and staying behind late after school to concentrate on his studies. His endeavour earned him the accolade of student of the year. “I was blown away to get the award. Every achievement I get is for my family, for my mum,” he said. His grades secured a place at Northumbria University in Newcastle, which he takes up next month. He blames his mother’s death firmly on the hoax call. “She took pride in her work and was humiliated in front of the world’s media,” he said. Barboza has no desire for revenge, but he spoke of the ordeal of attending the inquest into his mother’s death, which was attended by one of the Australian DJs, Mel Greig, who apologised to the family. “Mentally, I didn’t want to give her the time of day. My one concern was keeping my family together. Anger is a wasted emotion,” he said. “Each day is something we have to conquer together. It still feels like all of this happened yesterday”. |