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December 1, 2005updated 22 Nov 2022 5:37pm

Massive press pack gathered at hospital

By Press Gazette

Sky News
reporter Jonathan Samuels said the press pack outside the Cromwell
Hospital in London where Best died was the biggest he had ever seen.

Samuels spent a week outside the hospital after news that the football legend’s health had deteriorated badly.

He
said: “Sky has a policy of sending the same reporter to a story like
this, which makes sense as you build up contact with people every day
you are there, there is continuity. It counts for an awful lot.”

Samuels
described the scenes outside the hospital after Best died, saying: “It
was actually a bit chaotic and I realised before the family were going
to come out to make a statement it was going to be a scrum that would
have been inappropriate and embarrassing. I shouted everyone into
reasonable positions.”

Adam Parsons, reporting for BBC News 24,
said: “It struck me that when George first became ill he could have
died, but he hung in there and the level of interest grew. His life
ended in the spotlight, with all the flash bulbs assembled just like in
earlier parts of his life.”

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