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News

Prince William meets staff and patients from the Royal Marsden Hospital

4th January 2008

Prince William today met patients and staff evacuated from the Royal Marsden Hospital which caught fire on Wednesday.

The Prince, who is President of the hospital, spoke to cancer patients moved to The Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea, south-west London, after Wednesday's fire.

More than 150 patients and about 200 staff were evacuated from The Royal Marsden after a huge blaze took hold in the upper floors and roof.

Some 52 patients from the Royal Marsden are being treated at the Royal Brompton.

Most are being cared for on a single ward by staff transferred after the fire.

William praised the heroic efforts of nurses, doctors, ambulance crew and other hospital staff who helped carry the patients from the burning building.

Bethan Fletcher, 25, a nurse from Dulwich, south east London, was not working on the day of the blaze but, finding herself nearby, volunteered to help. She chatted with the Prince, who asked about her experience of the fire.

She said: "It's nice to see the support he brings and that he and everyone else is thinking about us. Everyone is working in a really united way. We had Gordon Brown here yesterday and Prince William today - it's fantastic."

Breast cancer patient Fathieh Shihab, 58, from Chelsea, beamed as she met William.

The former doctor was on the second floor of the Royal Marsden and could see the smoke from the floor above billowing outside her window.

She said: "I told him life is like a pocketful of miracles and always we have to be very positive about what happens in our lives.

"Even with the fire we are all safe and all in very good hands. We are receiving our treatment very well.

"It's nice to see all the support when something like this happens. The Prince was wonderful. He said I looked very healthy and that it's great I'm getting better."

Mrs Shihab will leave the hospital today after being treated for an infection over Christmas and will continue to receive chemotherapy as an outpatient.

Describing her horror at being caught in the fire, she said: "It was a bit of a shock when they told us we would have to be evacuated. The staff were amazing. Everyone was keeping calm and quiet and leading us to safety."

Later the Prince was shown the scene of the fire and met staff who have returned to work.

He became President of the Marsden last year, a post previously held by his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

He worked at the hospital for two days in December 2005 and the Marsden received at least £150,000 from last summer's Concert for Diana.

A devastating fire took hold of the upper floors of the Marsden, Europe's largest cancer treatment centre, on Wednesday morning. The hospital's 200 staff and 159 patients were led to safety. No one was hurt.

Some 125 fire-fighters tackled the blaze, which forced operations to be cut short and patients woken from anaesthetic.

The out-patient department and the Medical Day Unit will reopen on Monday. The cost of repairing the hospital is expected to run into many millions.

The Prince, an officer in the Army, will learn to fly with the Royal Air Force, it was announced today.

He will take temporary leave from the Household Cavalry's Blues and Royals regiment for an attachment at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire.

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