Asda worker leaves Prince Charles shocked as he faints to the ground while greeting the royal during store visit
A worker fainted in front of Prince Charles while the 71-year-old was greeting and chatting with the staff members at an Asda facility in Bristol on Thursday, July 9. The Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall visited the Asda distribution center to thank the staff who have worked during the Covid-19 pandemic. The pair met around 700 workers at the center along with the delivery drivers, and the people living near the facility. As per reports, to work during the pandemic, several retired workers of the supermarket company returned to help, worked extra hours, and different shift patterns. Not just that, many workers even postponed their holidays to work due to the high demand at supermarkets, The Metro reported.
However, the greet and meet session got disturbed for some time as an unnamed worker while exchanging pleasantries with Charles outside the center suddenly fell ill before collapsing to the ground to the Prince's initial shock. Soon, other workers and people standing nearby rushed to help the man. According to reports, Charles stood and waited to get confirmation that the man was okay before he headed towards another Asda worker to speak to them. The man who fainted was then helped to his feet and sent to receive medical help before he returned to greet the Prince again just minutes later. Everyone at the distribution center maintained a distance of at least two meters amid the coronavirus crisis.
Paying tribute to the staff, the general manager of the center, Chris Tilly, said: “We’ve had a lot of support from colleagues right across the business working extra hours, extra shifts to keep the shelves filled for customers. I think it is fantastic that the prince and duchess have taken the time out to come to the distribution center and meet colleagues.”
The 48-year-old added: “Every single colleague that they saw they thanked for what they had done during the last 14 weeks, which I was truly humbled by. They were really interested in what the colleagues did within Asda, how long they had worked for us, and just wanted to know how they had been doing while working through the pandemic.”
When the Prince and his wife arrived, they were greeted by Peaches Golding, the Lord-Lieutenant of Bristol. They were informed about the work Asda has been undertaking with the prince's Business in the Community initiative. It also works in partnership with the Trussell Trust and FareShare.
During their visit, Ruth Cadenhead, a home shopper based in Patchway, Bristol, spoke to the royal couple and talked to them about Asda’s work with the charities. The 62-year-old said that she retired as a teacher two years ago and had been volunteering with Thornbury food bank, as well as at Eastwood Park prison. “I’ve been working for Asda for about 12 weeks – since the call-out for extra help. Many, many people couldn’t get out for food and so deliveries were very important. In the shop, we have people doing shopping for many families and we assist them too,” Cadenhead said.
A warehouse operator, Richard Sigward, who has been working for Asda for over a decade told Charles and Camilla that he won’t retire. “The duchess was saying to me she definitely agrees that if people can work and are happy to do it, they should carry on. She said she refuses to retire herself. The prince was the same,” the 74-year-old said. While the Prince said to all the staff members, “Thank you, thank you very much, everybody. You deserve a stiff drink after all this.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson of Asda confirmed that the man who fainted before the Prince was doing fine. “We were delighted to welcome the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall to our Avonmouth depot yesterday as part of their celebration of the amazing efforts of key workers during the pandemic. The magnitude of the moment was a little much for one of our colleagues, who briefly fainted, but after taking a few minutes to recover himself he returned to continue his tour and reassure everyone he was absolutely fine. He handled the event like a pro – and we’re grateful to him and all our colleagues for their dedication.”