Unintended victim of a childish prank - The Australian

JACINTHA Saldanha, a duty nurse, was manning the switchboard at King Edward VII Hospital in Marylebone, central London, at 5.30am (6.30pm AEDT) last Tuesday when a call came through.

Britain's most prestigious private hospital, a favourite with royalty and wealthy celebrities, does not employ trained telephone operators to work night shifts. Instead Saldanha, 46, a mother of two, had been asked to take calls - a task she had handled before and now considered routine.