Afghanistan: Physiotherapist who helped amputee patients shot and killed
Lorena Enebral Perez, 38, a Spanish national, was in the ICRC’s rehabilitation centre in Mazar-e-Sharif when she was shot, apparently by a patient. Lorena’s work involved helping children, women and men who lost legs or arms or with many other forms of disability to learn how to walk again or feed themselves.
"She was the heart of our sub-delegation in Mazar," said the ICRC’s head of operations Dominik Stillhart. " She was loved by everybody and this is of course devastating news shocking for all of us and heartfelt condolences go out to the family of Lorena, as well as to our team in Afghanistan who are in deep shock."
Lorena was remembered by colleagues as having a wide smile and radiant attitude, a professional dedicated to her job and her patients. Afghan authorities have notified the ICRC that the gunman has been arrested.
The ICRC's physical rehabilitation work in Afghanistan helps people without limbs and with many other disabilities live an active life through physical rehabilitation, education, employment, and sport. Our seven rehabilitation centres manufacture more than 19,000 artificial legs, arms and other orthopedic devices a year and treat hundreds of thousands of patients.
The shooting death of Lorena follows the killings in February of six ICRC staff shot in northern Afghanistan; two were abducted in that attack. Her death comes six days after their release following close to seven months in captivity, and three days after an ICRC truck driver was shot and killed in South Sudan. This string of shootings not only angers and saddens the ICRC community but also underscores the real dangers our workforce faces around the world.
ICRC staff this year have taken part in a public campaign to remind everyone that our staff are humanitarian workers who seek only to improve the lives of victims of war. We repeat that campaign’s message today: We are #NotATarget.
For further information, please contact:
Thomas Glass, ICRC Kabul (English), tel: +93 (0) 729 140 510
Ahmad Ramin Ayaz, ICRC Kabul (Dari and Pashto), tel: +93 (0) 794 618 908
Anastasia Isyuk, ICRC Geneva (English, French, Russian), tel: +41 79 251 93 02
Jennifer Tobias, ICRC Geneva (Spanish), tel: + 41 79 218 76 10
Visit our website: www.icrc.org or Follow the ICRC on facebook.com/icrc and twitter.com/icrc
To preview and download the latest ICRC video footage in broadcast quality, go to www.icrcvideonewsroom.org
To find out what the ICRC is doing to put an end to attacks on health workers and patients, go to www.healthcareindanger.org
Shotlist
Statement from ICRC Head of Operations, Dominik Stillhart:
0:00 We have just learnt the devastating news of the killing of our staff Lorena Enebral Perez who was a physiotherapist working in the orthopedic center in Mazar in Afghanistan.
She was killed by a patient of that center who has been a patient with us for 17 years and as we speak we have absolutely no indications why this may have happened.
Now this is of course devastating news shocking for all of us and heartfelt condolences go out to the family of Lorena, as well as to our team in Afghanistan who are in deep shock, as much as we are of course.
0:53 She was the heart of our sub-delegation in Mazar. She was loved by everybody and our thoughts are really with her and these are very difficult and sad moments for all of us.
1:06 This comes just seven months after one of the most horrific security incidences we have experienced in the ICRC when six of our staff were killed in the very same region and two taken hostage and we just manage to get their release last week.
END 1:34
ICRC ref: AV693N
Date : 11 September 2017
Location : ICRC HQ, Geneva Switzerland
