A woman puts flowers on Jacintha Saldanha's coffin during her funeral. (Reuters file)
The traumatised son of an Indian-origin nurse who committed suicide after a prank call about Kate Middleton's morning sickness has overcome the tragedy to gain admission into a UK university.
Mangalorean Jacintha Saldanha was found hanging at London's King Edward VII Hospital's nurses' quarters in December 2012, three days after she fell victim to a hoax call from an Australian radio show seeking details of the Duchess of Cambridge's health while she was pregnant with Prince George.
Her 19-year-old son, Junal Barboza, has expressed his hope that he has made her proud by securing a place to study architecture at Northumbria University in Newcastle after scoring well at his school final results.
"I hope she would be very proud. She was the designer of the family and the artist as well. She would always help me with my drawing and I hope I have inherited a bit of that," he said in an interview with 'The Sunday Telegraph'.
He is convinced his mother's death was due to the hoax call by 2Day FM DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian.
"She took pride in her work and was humiliated in front of the world's media," he said.
He and his sister Janice Lisha finally returned to school in March 2013.
"We just helped each other get through each day. The memories never fade. It may be less visible physically, but mentally it is still scarring," he added.
The inquest into his mother's death took place in London in September last year and concluded the 46-year-old took her own life.