KYIV — Pete Reed, an American volunteer medic and founding father of the NGO Global Response Medicine, was killed whereas serving to to evacuate civilians in the jap Ukrainian metropolis of Bakhmut.
Reed, a former U.S. Marine, died on Thursday in the besieged metropolis in the Donetsk area of the country, GRM said late Friday.
“In January, Pete stepped away from GRM to work with Global Outreach Doctors on their Ukraine mission and was killed while rendering aid,” the NGO said. “Pete was the bedrock of GRM, serving as Board President for 4 years,” it said.
Bakhmut has been one of many main scorching spots throughout Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the continuing makes an attempt to grab the town, Moscow has been throwing 1000’s of troops on the Ukrainian positions in Bakhmut in ways that have gained the identify “meat waves.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the town in December, calling it the “hottest spot” in the warfare.
“Pete was just 33 years old, but lived a life in service of others, first as a decorated U.S. Marine and then in humanitarian aid,” GRM said. “We fully support Pete’s family, friends, and colleagues during this devastating time.”
Global Outreach Doctors also confirmed the loss of life of Reed, who was the group’s Ukraine Country director. “Pete was actively aiding in the evacuation of Ukrainian civilians when his evacuation vehicle was hit with a reported missile in Bakhmut, Ukraine, on Feb. 2,” the group said in a press release.
Reed’s spouse, Alex Kay Potter, wrote on Instagram that her husband apparently died saving one other crew member’s life, CNN reported. “He was evacuating civilians and responding to those wounded when his ambulance was shelled,” her post said, in line with the CNN report.
“Pete Reed, a volunteer medic, was killed by shelling in Bakhmut, Ukraine, yesterday while trying to evacuate civilians. One of the most selfless people I’ve ever met,” documentary photographer Cengiz Yar wrote in a tweet.
The same day Reed was killed, two different overseas volunteer medical doctors had been injured in a bombing in Bakhmut. The medics — Norwegians Sander Sørsveen Trelvik and Simon Johnsen — had been working for Frontline Doctors. They had been taken to a hospital in Dnipro for surgical procedure.
They each are recovering and getting ready to return to Norway on Tuesday, Grethe Sørsveen, Sander’s mom, wrote on Facebook.
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