MOLINE, Illinois — A musician who had been collaborating with Prince in the years before his passing was also on the flight with him that made an emergency landing at the Quad Cities International Airport. Grammy-winning artist Judith Hill described what happened the moment she noticed Prince went unconscious on the private jet.
It was mid-April 2016 when Hill, Prince, and Prince’s friend and aide Kirk Johnson were heading to Paisley Park after Prince’s concert in Atlanta. Hill told the New York Times that Prince was sitting across from her at a table when she noticed that “his eyes fixed” before he passed out.
Hill and Johnson were unable to wake Prince. The pilot then notified air traffic control of an unresponsive man on board. An ambulance met the plane when they landed in Moline at 1:17 a.m. According to the Times report, paramedics revived Prince on the tarmac with a shot of Narcan, which can treat a narcotic overdose in an emergency situation. Prince was then taken to a nearby hospital.
Hill told the Times she was relieved that when Prince arrived at the hospital, he was awake and talking.
Within one week, however, Prince passed away at age 57.
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“I was with Prince the last two years of my life,” said Hill. Prince co-produced her 2015 debut album “Back in Time” and she had performed at Paisley Park with him. See behind the scenes video below
“Now he’s gone, and I realize I was leaning on him a lot,” she said to the Times. “And that’s what’s scary. I’m on my own.”
Prince spent decades performing and had undergone hip surgery. Even through it, Hill said she never knew Prince was in pain.
“I only know what everyone knows about his pain – I read about it,” she told the Times. She said hearing about it was shocking.
According to the report, Hill remembered that in the hospital, Prince had said it was “by God’s grace” that he was still there.
