Angelyn Peralta Aguirre, a 33-year-old caregiver from the Philippines, was by the side of her 70-year-old patient, Nira last Saturday when Hamas terrorists attacked Kibbutz Kfar Gaza. Aguirre had been Nira’s caregiver for six years. In the face of such horror, Aguirre did not abandon her patient. She took her to a shelter where they both hid.
“Wadiya la ra. Natatakot ak (They are already here. I am afraid),” the 33-year-old caregiver said in one voice message sent to the family chat group. More messages followed but three hours later, she went silent.
“At that moment we were praying for her safety. We did not expect that she would be killed,” her sister Wilma told reporters in an interview from their house on Thursday.
The shelter did not have a lock and the two were killed when the Hamas terrorists fired through the steel door.
Jerusalem’s deputy mayor, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum tweeted her praise of the actions:
Esty Buzgan, deputy chief of mission at the Israel Embassy in Manila, said: “Our heart goes to Angelyn and her family, please receive my sympathy and condolence for her loss. It’s like losing one of us; it hurts the same.”
Israeli officials are hailing Aguirre as a hero for showing courage when she refused to abandon her 70-year-old patient at a time when she had a choice to leave and save her own life.
In a post on X, Jerusalem’s deputy mayor, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum praised .
“Despite having a chance to flee the Hamas terror attacks, Angelyn showed unbelievable humanity and loyalty by remaining by Nira’s side during the violence, resulting in both of them being brutally murdered by Hamas. Unimaginable honour in the face of evil,” she said.
Esty Buzgan, deputy chief of mission at the Israel Embassy in Manila, said: “Our heart goes to Angelyn and her family, please receive my sympathy and condolence for her loss. It’s like losing one of us; it hurts the same.”
Aguirre was one of two overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) confirmed to have been killed in the attack by Hamas terrorists. The other victim was Paul Vincent Castelvi, a 42-year-old caregiver from Pampanga, who had reportedly been abducted by the militants before his body was found.
