Prince William may be the heir to the British throne, but that doesn’t change what it feels like to witness the worst day of a person’s life—an experience that is all too common in his role as helicopter pilot for the East Anglian Air Ambulance service. The Duke of Cambridge recently opened up about his experiences for a special BBC program that marks National Air Ambulance Week in the U.K.
In the film, William revealed that “sad, dark” moments are often a part of the job, and that it’s the camaraderie among the tight-knit team that helps him to cope. “You know we talk about it a lot and that’s the best way of dealing with some of these situations,” he says. “You try not to take it away with you, but sometimes, it can be quite difficult.”
“If you share the same—in some cases—sad incidents, then if you can get over it together by being able to talk about it in the future. Being a close team you come away with a collective way of dealing with it together and it helps you move on to whatever you’ve got to do next,” he went on to say.
The Duke (who is known as Pilot William Wales at work) is quite modest about the role he plays on the team, praising the “brilliant” medics for their life-saving work. “Our main aim is just to get them here as safely and as quickly as possible,” he explains, “and then they take over and do all the hero stuff.”
As for how the patients feel about being rescued by a prince? He says they really don’t seem to care. “I was a little bit anxious of some of that when I first started, because I didn’t want to bring any chaos or any unhelpfulness to the scene,” he recalls. “But they don’t really care who turns up, as long as they’re getting the care and the help they need.”
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Watch clips from the program and see William in action on bbc.com.