South Africa-based photographer João Silva, who was injured in a landmine blast in Afghanistan last year, is improving, his wife, Vivian, said on Tuesday.
“He’s [Silva] fine, he’s getting along. He is still at the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington and will probably be there for the rest of the year,” she said.
Silva’s condition was stable and there were no life-threatening problems.
“We are focusing on rehabilitation now,” Vivian said.
His parents were currently with him in Washington. Vivian and the children were going to visit Silva at the end of February.
When asked how the family was doing, Vivian said they were coping.
“What else can we do,” she said.
Silva was working for the New York Times covering the war in Afghanistan when he was seriously injured in a landmine explosion late last year.
Operations
He has undergone a number of operations after losing both legs below the knee.
An auction of Silva’s work in November last year, to help raise money, realised more than R200 000.
Some of the pictures were from the day he was hurt but not of the incident itself.
Silva was born in Lisbon, Portugal, and is based in Johannesburg.
He was associated with the Bang-Bang Club, the nickname for a group of four photographers who covered events in South Africa during apartheid and from the time former president Nelson Mandela was released from prison to the first democratic election in 1994. The other three photographers were Kevin Carter, Ken Oosterbroek and Marinovich.
Silva has worked in Africa, the Balkans, Central Asia, Russia, and the Middle East.
His images have won numerous awards. — Sapa