By Rob Welham
BEIJING, March 22 (Xinhuanet) — Photojournalist Margaret Moth, who survived a near-fatal gunshot wound to the face while filming in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the wars there in the early 1990s, has died aged 59.
Born Margaret Wilson in Gisborne, New Zealand, she later changed her name to Margaret Gipsy Moth. She said in the September 2009 CNN documentary, \”Fearless: the Margaret Moth Story,\” that she wanted to have her own name, not the one people are given because of their fathers. Moth was also a skydiver and would occasionally jump from a Tiger Moth airplane.
CNN spokesman Nigel Pritchard confirmed that Moth died in Rochester, Minnesota, where she was in hospice care. She had suffered from colon cancer for three years. Moth, who knew her cancer was terminal, said in the CNN documentary that she felt she could die with dignity. \”The important thing is to know that you\’ve lived your life to the fullest … You could be a billionaire, and you couldn\’t pay to do the things we\’ve done.\”
Moth obtained her first camera when she was 8 years old. Reported to be New Zealand\’s first camerawoman, she came to the U.S. and worked for KHOU in Houston, Texas, for about seven years before starting with CNN in 1990. Moth was seriously wounded by sniper fire that hit a CNN van in July 1992 in Sarajevo.
A bullet shattered her jaw, blew out her teeth and destroyed part of her tongue. She said the wound left her forever sounding like she was drunk. After several reconstructive surgeries, she returned to the war-torn country two years later. She was among scores of journalists hurt or killed covering the conflict in Bosnia and Croatia during the violent breakup of Yugoslavia.
Her colleagues said she inspired them with her toughness, humor and quirky style that included always wearing black clothes that went with her jet-black hair, thick black eyeliner and combat boots that she often wore while she slept in war zones. \”I don\’t think Margaret could ever look back and say, \’What if?\’\” said Christiane Amanpour, CNN\’s chief international correspondent. \”She did it to the max, and she did it brilliantly. And she did it on her terms.\”
Moth also covered the Israeli invasion of the West Bank in 2002, the rioting that followed Indira Gandhi\’s assassination in 1984 and other conflicts around the world, including several in the Middle East. When militiamen opened fire on protesters in Tbilisi, Georgia, she stood her ground and kept her camera running.
But she was often angered by those who said she had a death wish because she chose to work in combat zones. \”I was always very careful. I never saw myself as a daredevil or someone who would be stupid about things,\” she said.
\”The important thing is to know that you\’ve lived your life to the fullest … You could be a billionaire, and you couldn\’t pay to do the things we\’ve done.\”
(Agencies)
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