27 take the necessary steps, since they had to return the apartment where the victim had lived. The witness had to stop studying. The father suffered a mental disorder and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital; afterwards he continued to take medication. She covered all these expenses. Her father died four months after the victim’s demise. The witness began to work to support the other brothers who studied, as the mother could not support them on her own. The witness heard what had happened from some friends. At that time she was seventeen, and she had to identify her brother among several dead persons who were piled up at the morgue. Afterwards she did not see him again, and they told her that he had been buried in a common grave. She had to inform the family of what had happened. The mother talked to a priest, seeking comfort, and the children tried to benefit from those conversations too. None of the family members have received psychological treatment. At first, the witness did not accept her brother’s death, she cried a lot, could not sleep, did not eat. Since then she has suffered gastritis. She was perturbed at night and suffered insomnia for a long time, as did her mother. The mother required injections with tranquilizers because she constantly expected to see her son come into the house. The mother died without knowing the final whereabouts of her son. Both the witness and her mother suffered very much due to impunity regarding the facts. 38. Henry Herrera Hurtado, a victim. On February 28, 1989 he suffered a firearm wound which damaged his liver, intestines, and some vertebrae. At that time he worked at a furniture store as an assistant and earned minimum wage. He supported himself and made weekly and monthly contributions to his family. He is single and has no children. His life has changed substantially because before he could support himself and since the facts he has no income and depends absolutely on a social security pension, which he began to receive two years after the event. He has suffered irreversible damage; he lost a kidney and ten centimeters of colon; he suffered liver damage; he has a post-operative wound, and has been left paraplegic, with partial paralysis. He has had a number of expenses for diapers, catheters, medicine, travel, and still requires urinary catheters, but he does not have receipts. He received medical assistance from social security, while his family has covered the cost of medicine. COFAVIC covered expenses in pursuit of justice. The witness has been severely hurt by the sudden and total change in his situation. He suffers depression and deep sadness. He is practically tied to his house, because to go out he needs help. The last three years he has been lying on a bed and his perception of what happened is that of a great fracture in the path of his personal realization. He has found some “comfort in spirituality,” but even so he feels that the facts have cut short his hopes of establishing a family and fending for himself.