News Photography
Rebecca McEntee / Austin American-Statesman

Few photographers are able to capture the joy and pain of a moment the way Rebecca McEntee can.

When she was sent on a routine assignment to photograph a little girl recovering from heart surgery, McEntee brought back a heartbreaking image that is touching and sensitive.

Several children from war-torn Kosovo were flown to Central Texas for operations to repair heart defects. Three-year-old Azara was the last to go home after her successful surgery.

During a routine checkup, Azara's emotions ran from tears to laughter. Some editors preferred the more cheerful photo of the cute, smiling girl. However, McEntee made a strong argument for using the emotional photo showing the long scar on Azara's chest.

"McEntee was right," said Kathy Warbelow, managing editor of the American-Statesman. "The photo pulls at the reader's heartstrings."

McEntee has not heard anything more from the family of the child in her moving photo.

"They went back to Kosovo right away," McEntee said. "The mother was going to be reunited with the husband for the first time in more than a year."

Born in Columbus, Ohio, to an Air Force family, McEntee graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in journalism. She free-lanced for AP and other organizations before joining the American-Statesman as a staff photographer in 1990.