In Memoriam - Paula Loyd
On the day of the attack, the team was embedded with a platoon of ‘C’ Company of Task Force 2-2. The 25-soldier platoon was providing security and transportation for AF4. After conducting a number of interviews in the bazaar, Paula began interviewing a man who was not from the local village about household economic issues, including the price of fuel. The man was carrying fuel in an open pitcher covered with a cloth, which is a common practice in rural Afghanistan. During the 15-minute interview, the man appeared gregarious and non-threatening and thanked Paula and her teammates multiple times in English for the work they were doing in Afghanistan. Without any warning, the man Paula had been interviewing doused her with the contents of the fuel canister and set her on fire. (Similar attacks have been carried out in Pakistan against women working in professional capacities outside the home in rural areas.) Her teammate, who was standing close by, immediately submerged her in a stream, extinguishing the flames. After the flames were out, Paula (with remarkable courage and aplomb) looked at her hands and said, “Gee, these look bad. Do you think I’ll be able to finish my report?” Within 30 minutes, a British helicopter evacuated Paula to Bastion, a nearby British base. The two doctors who provided initial medical attention were, respectively, a burn specialist and a plastic surgeon. Paula, when told that she would be given emergency medical attention by a plastic surgeon, remarked, “well, I’ve always wanted to get a few little things done.” Despite the brutality of the attack, Paula’s warmth and humor were undiminished. After initial medical treatment, Paula was moved to Bagram Air Force Base, and then to Landstuhl Medical Facility in where she was met by the Brooke Army Medical burn treatment team on an aircraft specially equipped to handle burn patients. Accompanied by one of her team members, she was transported to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. For the duration of her hospitalization, HTS provided a uniformed military staff member to support Paula’s family and ensure that she received adequate care. For many weeks, Paula was in critical but guarded condition and sometimes responsive to visitors. Her family and her fiancé spent every waking moment with her, and continually expressed their appreciation for the worldwide outpouring of compassion and support. Tragically, Paula was unable to recover from the severe burns she sustained, and died on January 7, 2009 surrounded by her loved ones. Paula was motivated by a deep compassion for the victims of war and was a true humanitarian. As one of her close friends explained shortly before Paula’s death, “Paula spent almost 4 years in Afghanistan…She has a genuine love of Afghanistan and the Afghan people and the opportunity to get back out on the ground and bring all her experiences together – her military, her NGO and her UN background – was really important to her…She knew what she was getting herself into. There were no illusions - she’d lost friends in Afghanistan before. I don’t doubt that the day she walks out of the hospital, she’ll try to get back over there. That’s just who she is.” Paula’s family requests that donations be made to the Moonlight Fund, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides 24/7 assistance to burn survivors and their family members. Donations can be sent via check or money order, and should be marked ‘For Paula Loyd.’
Moonlight Fund |
