Prince William spoke up about the traumatic work experience he had as a royal.
In the recent special episode of Apple Fitness+’s Time To Walk series on Monday, Prince William recalled the role he had as an RAF Search and Rescue pilot. The British royal revealed he began working with the East Anglian Air Ambulance in 2015 and left in 2017 to focus on his royal duties.
According to the 39-year-old heir to the throne, he found having helicopter training better than anything as zit enjoyed giving his service to people. However, it was not all bright roads for Prince William.
“Seeing patients and families ripped apart on almost a daily basis, that routine, you just get into a habit of head down and get on with it. Immediately it became clear that this young person was in serious difficulty, sadly been hit by a car. And of course there are some things in life you don’t really want to see,” he said.
Prince William added it was the moment that affected his mental health since they all wanted to help a young boy while his parents were screaming and wailing.
Fortunately, his team was able to stabilize the boy and save his life. Despite that, the experience, reportedly, stayed with him through the years.
When he, reportedly, went home, he was upset and felt that something changed inside him.
How the experience haunted the royal prince
The Duke of Cambridge resumed working without addressing his emotions. Weeks later, the memory, reportedly, came back.
He described how he felt like someone opened up without permitting him. Prince William, in the end, realized he felt everyone was in pain and suffering.
“My personal life and everything was absolutely fine,” he continued. “I was happy at home and happy at work, but I kept looking at myself, going, ‘Why am I feeling like this? Why do I feel so sad?’ And I started to realize that, actually, you’re taking home people’s trauma, people’s sadness, and it’s affecting you.”
After the thoughts hit him, he had to share what he felt to ensure his mental health was healthy. He was, reportedly, lucky he had someone to talk to at work in the Air Ambulance afterward, and it indeed helped him overcome the emotion.
Even today, the future King focuses on raising awareness on mental health.
Featured image courtesy of USAID/Vietnam, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons