GRIEF: Benedict Barboza and daughter Lisha mourn wife and mom Jacintha Saldanha yesterday. (REUTERS)
GRIEF: Benedict Barboza and daughter Lisha mourn wife and mom Jacintha Saldanha (inset) yesterday (
)
The Australian radio station accused of fueling a British nurse’s suicide says it won’t risk doing the same to the two “very precariously balanced’’ shock jocks who pulled a hoax on her.
Station spokeswoman Sandy Kaye said the question of firing DJs Michael Christian and Mel Greig, who convinced the nurse they were royalty and entitled to confidential information about pregnant Kate Middleton, hasn’t even come up.
“They haven’t been able to address that because of the fragility of the [DJs’ mental] health,” Kaye told The Post. “Our primary concern is to look after them.
The DJs, using phony British accents, last week called the hospital where Middleton was being treated for severe nausea, and told nurse Jacintha Saldanha they were Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.
Saldanha transferred them to the nurse at Middleton’s bedside, who also fell for the trick and gave them details of the duchess’ condition.
“They’re not fit to work,” Kaye said. “They’re very precariously balanced. They’re in an incredibly fragile state and receiving intense psychological counseling.”
Greig and Christian gave their own interview to Australian TV show, “Today Tonight.’’
“There’s nothing that can make me feel worse than what I feel right now,” a crying Greig said.
The nurse’s husband, Benedict Barboza, wrote on his Facebook wall yesterday, “I am devastated with the tragic loss of my beloved wife, Jacintha, in tragic circumstances.”