Veteran actor, Bob Smith Jnr, popularly known as Diabolo, has said that he nearly fainted when he heard of the passing of his good friend and colleague Prince Yawson.

Speaking on Hitz FM Friday, he said that although he knew the late actor, popularly known as Waakye, was ill, his death was a tough pill to swallow until he saw the deceased's body.

Diabolo said that "seriously, I nearly dropped, I nearly fainted. I told myself it was not true. I knew he was ill. On Monday morning, he was rushed to the hospital. First, to Korle-Bu, there were no beds for him. He went to Ridge, but it didn’t work, and they went to 37 with his fiancée."

"Incidentally, over there, they had a good reception. So, we all knew he was on admission and were preparing to go see him and see what we could do," he added.

The actor explained that they had called a couple of his friends to come to the actor's aid in case they needed a huge sum of money for his medical bills.

Mr. Smith said when he was on his way to the hospital, Waakye's fiancée called to inform him of the actor's passing

"I was devastated. I was sure that later in the day, they could say that it is not true. I needed to go there and see with my naked eye. I couldn’t believe it because I thought something could be done about it. I seriously couldn’t believe it." Diabolo told Andy Dosty, host of the show.

The actor, popularly known as Waakye, died on Tuesday, August 2 at the 37 Military Hospital after an illness.

He passed away at the age of 52.

Veteran actress, Grace Omaboe, popularly known as Maame Dokono, had narrated in an earlier interview how ‘no bed syndrome’ contributed to Waakye’s death.

According to her, Waakye was taken to Ridge Hospital but due to the lack of hospital beds, he was moved to the 37 Military Hospital.

“At the 37 Military Hospital, they also had no hospital beds so he was attended to on a stretcher. Before they got back with equipment to attend to him, he gave up the ghost."