Prince William reflects on life as a pilot
Prince William spoke to the BBC about his role as a helicopter pilot for East Anglian Air Ambulance.
Prince William recently spoke to the BBC about his role as a helicopter air ambulance pilot in East Anglia, UK, discussing how much he loves his job and how being part of a team of like-minded people helps him to deal with ‘sad and dark moments’.
The Duke of Cambridge laughed about how his colleagues at HEMS charity East Anglian Air Ambulance have grown increasingly familiar with him. “When I first got here, it was very polite. It’s now got a lot worse as they’ve got to know me and their inhibitions are gone and I’ve got worse nicknames,” he joked.
Flt Lt Wales, as he was known in his previous role as a Royal Air Force search and rescue Sea King pilot, highlighted his desire to feel like he’s made ‘a difference and a contribution’ and explained that the role means ‘bringing the hospital to the casualty by the road within that golden hour’. “When I put my air ambulance hat on and I come here and I fly, I’m part of the team and just want to get the job done,” he said. “This aircraft brings a critical care paramedic and a critical care doctor to the scene, a lot faster than you could possibly do by road or by any other means.”
Prince William explained that he shares a lot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance team in terms of similarities and experiences: “From a pilot point of view, most of us here are ex-military, so we come from the same mould and we have the same sort of very bad sense of humour and outlook, I think… I love working in a team. It’s good fun.”
His colleague Captain James Pusey agreed and highlighted the need for frivolity at times “You have to have a bit of banter and be able to laugh at yourself. Without that, I think it all becomes a bit too serious and a bit too stressful.”
“It helps destress and it also brings us together because if you share the same, and in some cases, sad incidents and if you can get over it together by being able to talk about it in the future and 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,” added Prince William. “There are some very sad dark moments and we talk about it a lot, but it’s hard. You try not to take it away with you but it can be quite difficult.”
You can watch the full video here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/headlines/37411852