Relatives here told the Sunday Chronicle yesterday that after days of not hearing anything from officials at base command, Fort Stewart, in Georgia, about how she was doing, they received a call last Sunday from ‘Nikki’ herself, as Onica is called, saying that she was “al’right”; that her injuries were not as bad as they had initially appeared; and that she was back on duty.

Though she did not specify where she was stationed, whether it was back in Iraq or in Kuwait, where she had been stationed since last October preparatory to going to war, she, however, asked that they thank the many persons, both here and in the US, who had offered prayers for her safe recovery on learning that she was injured.

According to initial reports, ‘Nikki’, who hails from the Essequibo Coast, was injured in the face and other parts of the body when tank fire from advancing US forces ripped into a central Baghdad hotel, which at the time served as a media centre for foreign journalists, killing four and injuring 15 others. Among the fatalities, reports say, were two top US Army officials.

The last relatives had heard of her prior to last Sunday’s rather brief exchange, was that ‘Nikki’, who turned 21 on January 10, was being shipped back to Kuwait so as she could receive medical attention.

There had also been talk about the likelihood of her being sent to Germany, as was originally intended, and having to undergo plastic surgery should her injuries prove more serious than had been anticipated.