She was attacked even after calling out "journalist, journalist!" while reporting on the Sri Lankan Civil War.[19][20][21][22] She told Lindsey Hilsum of Channel 4 News that her attacker "knew what he was doing."[23] Despite sustaining serious injuries, Colvin, who was 44 at the time, managed to write a 3,000 word article on time to meet the deadline.[24] She had walked over 30 miles through the Vanni jungle with her Tamil guides to evade government troops; she reported on the humanitarian disaster in the northern Tamil region, including a government blockade of food, medical supplies and prevention of foreign journalist access to the area for six years to cover the war.[7][22][23] Colvin later suffered post traumatic stress disorder and required hospitalisation following her injuries.