Lt Tim O’Donnell, 28, was serving as part of the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team in the Bamyan Province, Afganistan, when his unit came under attack. Lt O’Donnell was killed.
Two other New Zealand defence personnel were seriously injured; Lance Corporal Matthew Ball, 24, who is a friend of CrossFit New Zealand member Nick’s from primary and secondary school, and Private Allistar Baker, 23. Lt O’Donnell is New Zealand’s first combat death in Afganistan, and New Zealand’s first combat death in over a decade. Lt O’Donnell is survived by his father Mark, a former police officer, his mother Mary-Anne, a nurse, his brother Andrew, and his sister Anna.