{"id":36614,"date":"2025-09-02T19:47:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T19:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=36614"},"modified":"2025-09-02T19:47:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T19:47:03","slug":"princess-diana-could-have-survived-incredibly-rare-injury-according-to-expert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=36614","title":{"rendered":"Princess Diana could have survived &#8216;incredibly rare&#8217; injury according to expert"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"main-content-bltc9fc842734b0c29c\" class=\"content-template_leftColumnInner__Du7BU\">\n<div class=\"content-template_body__RWRhb\">\n<div style=\"display: contents;\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\"><strong>Princess Diana could have survived her &#8216;incredibly rare&#8217; fatal injury, according to a forensic pathologist.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">It&#8217;s been more than 28 years since the <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unilad.com\/world-news\">world<\/a> mourned the death of the People&#8217;s Princess in a tragic car accident.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">On August 31, 1997, the 36-year-old and her partner, Dodi Fayed, were trying to flee paparazzi in <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unilad.com\/world-news\">Paris<\/a> when the crash occurred.<\/p>\n<div class=\"floating-video-player_container__u4D9_\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">It is claimed that <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unilad.com\/royal-family\">Princess Diana&#8217;s<\/a> chauffeur, Henri Paul, had lost control of the vehicle at the entrance to the Pont de l&#8217;Alma underpass and struck another <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unilad.com\/cars\">car<\/a> before swerving across the tunnel into a column at around 65 mph.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">The crash claimed the lives of all three, with only Dodi&#8217;s bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, surviving the wreckage. Diana tragically went into <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unilad.com\/health\">cardiac arrest<\/a> and died of internal bleeding stemming from major chest and lung injuries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">Now, however, renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Richard Shepherd has claimed she could&#8217;ve lived &#8216;if only&#8217; a few <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unilad.com\/life\">life<\/a>-saving measures before and in the immediate aftermath of the crash had happened.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-image_articleImage__eyzAn\">\n<div class=\"article-image_imageWrapper__ANtPE\">\n<div class=\"resizable-image_wrapper__LRQlr\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"max-width: 100%; height: auto; display: block; margin: 1em auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/images.ladbible.com\/resize?type=webp&amp;quality=1&amp;width=3840&amp;fit=contain&amp;gravity=auto&amp;url=https:\/\/images.ladbiblegroup.com\/v3\/assets\/blt949ea8e16e463049\/blt105d617a324987e9\/68b7016565f1de6b19760b72\/princess_diana_car_crash.jpg\" alt=\"The crash claimed the lives of three who were travelling in the vehicle in 1997 (JACK GUEZ\/AFP via Getty Images)\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" data-nimg=\"fill\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><cite class=\"image-credit_imageCredit__YMlqS\">The crash claimed the lives of three who were travelling in the vehicle in 1997 (JACK GUEZ\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/cite><\/div>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">After examining the evidence in the case, the pathologist said in his <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unilad.com\/books\">book<\/a> <em>Unnatural Causes<\/em>, which is due to come out April 18, that her specific injury, a tiny tear in a vein in one of her lungs, was &#8216;so rare&#8217; he&#8217;d never seen it before in his career.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">&#8220;Diana&#8217;s was a very small injury but in the wrong place,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">However, the doc is keen to put <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unilad.com\/conspiracy-theories\">conspiracy theories<\/a> to bed, explaining how her death is &#8216;indisputable&#8217; from the injury she sustained.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">But, he said that Princess Diana&#8217;s death stands as a &#8216;classic example&#8217; of an &#8216;is only&#8217; case, stressing that she probably would&#8217;ve avoided the horrific injury &#8216;if only&#8217; she&#8217;d been wearing a seatbelt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">Dr Shepherd wrote: &#8220;Had she been restrained, she would probably have appeared in public two days later with a black eye, perhaps a bit breathless from the fractured ribs and with a broken arm in a sling.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-image_articleImage__eyzAn\">\n<div class=\"article-image_imageWrapper__ANtPE\">\n<div class=\"resizable-image_wrapper__LRQlr\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"max-width: 100%; height: auto; display: block; margin: 1em auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/images.ladbible.com\/resize?type=webp&amp;quality=1&amp;width=3840&amp;fit=contain&amp;gravity=auto&amp;url=https:\/\/images.ladbiblegroup.com\/v3\/assets\/blt949ea8e16e463049\/blt7aa58760984916ed\/68b70405ed2576e389e52467\/princess_diana_death.jpg\" alt=\"Princess Diana could've survived if she'd done this one thing (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" data-nimg=\"fill\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><cite class=\"image-credit_imageCredit__YMlqS\">Princess Diana could&#8217;ve survived if she&#8217;d done this one thing (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)<\/cite><\/div>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">Mr. Rees-Jones, the sole survivor, was the only passenger buckled up in the car, according <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/how-did-princess-diana-die-11800403\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">to<\/a> People, which likely helped to absorb some of the force of Diana&#8217;s collision into the back of his seat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">Dr Shepherd added that another &#8216;if only&#8217; comes down to how she was sitting, as had she hit his seat at a slightly different angle or at a slower speed, it&#8217;s possible she could&#8217;ve survived.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">The other &#8216;if only&#8217; comes down to her hospital treatment, as Diana wasn&#8217;t immediately put in an ambulance as she appeared responsive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">In reality, however, her ruptured vein was bleeding into her chest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">A first responder on the scene, firefighter Xavier Gourmelon, confirmed that he was unaware that Diana suffered &#8216;serious internal injuries.&#8217;<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-image_articleImage__eyzAn\">\n<div class=\"article-image_imageWrapper__ANtPE\">\n<div class=\"resizable-image_wrapper__LRQlr\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"max-width: 100%; height: auto; display: block; margin: 1em auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/images.ladbible.com\/resize?type=webp&amp;quality=1&amp;width=3840&amp;fit=contain&amp;gravity=auto&amp;url=https:\/\/images.ladbiblegroup.com\/v3\/assets\/blt949ea8e16e463049\/blt9ec57ff708b79fb4\/68b70442fabe18ea9dc3b0f7\/car_crash_princess_diana.jpg\" alt=\"The four travellers in the car moments before the fatal crash (Jacques Langevin\/scottbaker-inquests.gov.uk via Getty Images)\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" data-nimg=\"fill\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><cite class=\"image-credit_imageCredit__YMlqS\">The four travellers in the car moments before the fatal crash (Jacques Langevin\/<a href=\"https:\/\/scottbaker-inquests.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">scottbaker-inquests.gov<\/a>.uk via Getty Images)<\/cite><\/div>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">&#8220;To be honest, I thought she would live. As far as I knew when she was in the ambulance she was alive and I expected her to live,&#8221; he told The Sun after revealing <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unilad.com\/news\/princess-diana-final-words-before-death-910069-20250901\">Diana&#8217;s tragic last words to him<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">A 2004 <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unilad.com\/police\">police<\/a> inquiry investigated whether there were any suspicious circumstances or if there were any reasons to doubt that the deaths were from an accident, with the inquiry concluding that it was a &#8216;tragic accident&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_text__nEn66\">Dr Shepherd agreed with the inquiry&#8217;s conclusion, adding in his book: &#8220;The pathology of her death is, I believe, indisputable. But around that tiny, fatal tear in a pulmonary vein are woven many other facts, some of which are sufficiently opaque to allow a multitude of theories to blossom.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><cite class=\"image-credit_imageCredit__YMlqS\"><\/cite><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; Princess Diana could have survived her &#8216;incredibly rare&#8217; fatal injury, according to a forensic pathologist. It&#8217;s been more than 28 years since the world mourned the death of &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36614"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36616,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36614\/revisions\/36616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}