Hannelie home, but so terribly alone

10 December 2014 - 02:44 By Graeme Hosken
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With nothing but the clothes on her back and an emergency passport, Hannelie Groenewald landed in South Africa yesterday.

Her children - Jean-Pierre, 17, and Rode, 15, and husband Werner - should have been with her when she landed at OR Tambo International Airport, near Johannesburg. But they were killed 10 days ago when al-Qaeda terrorists stormed the compound in which the family was living in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Groenewald was spared because she had gone to the clinic at which she worked as a doctor.

She is now praying that the bodies arrive before the memorial service on Friday.

Her husband was a director of US aid agency Partnership in Academics and Development.

Speaking to The Times yesterday, family spokesman Teresa Conradie said Groenewald arrived home with nothing.

"Everything, her entire life, was destroyed in that house," she said.

"She now has to redesign the rest of her life. She is trying to concentrate on reconnecting with her family and parents, and with Werner's mother and father.

"Her children were her parents' only grandchildren. She is very conscious of the bigger loss to her family."

Conradie said Groenewald wanted to concentrate on grieving, which she was getting through with "God's peace".

She said it was hoped that the bodies would be flown back home by Friday.

"They are in transit. We just pray that they arrive before the memorial service."

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