Juan Jesus Ortiz-Iruri 1949-2013

It is with great sadness that we commemorate the death of Juan Jesus Ortiz-Iruri, a health adviser to Save the Children between 1989 and 1999, who was one of the victims of the terrorist attack on Westgate Mall, Nairobi on 21 September.

Mr Ortiz-Iruri, 63, a Peruvian doctor who was working as deputy head of the Kenyan branch of the UN Children’s Fund, was on the point of leaving for the UK to take up a post at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

Peter Poore, Save the Children’s former Head of Health, who worked closely with Juan, offered the following tribute:

“As a health adviser to Save the Children, Juan was gentle, kind, thoughtful, and his good humour (Juan was always ready to laugh) and dedication to the care of people, especially women and children, made him a great pleasure to work with.

“Juan was much loved by all his colleagues and his contribution to the welfare of some of the poorest people in the world was immense.”

All our thoughts are with his family.