Prince 911 caller reflects on how singer's death could have been avoided

Prince (Image credit: Getty)

The man who called 911 to report Prince’s death says he has thought about how the pop icon’s passing could have been prevented in the weeks since the tragedy.

Autopsy reports recently revealed that the singer died of an accidental opioid overdose on April 21. The document claims he administered the dose of painkiller himself.

Andrew Kornfeld, the son of Prince’s physician, was sent to the musician’s Paisley Park home in Minnesota to help him – but was too late and ended up making the emergency call instead.

He says (via CNN): “As I told the 911 dispatcher on April 21, those on the scene were distraught, which was why I was the one to place the call. But what happened has made me think, long and hard, about what steps we must take to prevent such entirely unnecessary loss of life.

“I have thought about what might have produced a different outcome. What if his troubles could have been addressed effectively, and much sooner?

“His death was a tragedy beyond words. He was an inspiration to so many, and in the brief time I spent in Minnesota, I saw just how good a friend he was to those closest to him.”

It was reported last month that Prince’s representatives had asked a leading addiction doctor for help the day before he died.

Kornfeld, also a pre-med student, says that early medical intervention and care could have helped Prince with his dependency on painkillers, but adds: “Unfortunately, the timely care Prince may have needed, based on the medical examiner’s report, has been difficult to obtain in Minnesota, and in many states in our nation.”

Tributes to Prince have been paid from across the music world.

His name was Prince, and he was funky

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.