Finally, on 25 November 2009, after 640 days as hostages, Amanda and her boyfriend Nigel were released whena ransom of $600,000 was paid to the kidnappers. She has spent the last four years recovering and writing her book and starting a foundation, raising over three million to help suffering people in of all places, Somalia. Aug. 6, 2017 Best of NBC News Play All Early TODAY U.S. Your mind always had to be thinking a move or two ahead. [63] In June 2012, Lindhout received the Red Deer Women of Excellence Award in Human Services from the Red Deer & District Community Foundation. Canadian humanitarian, public speaker, and journalist Amanda Lindhout was abducted in Somalia whilewent through the most painful days as she was starved and abused byreleased whena ransom of $600,000 was paid tothe guilty was arrested inhas close bond with her family especially her motheris yet to be married and live a life with husband Amanda Lindhout father suffered from chronic health problems who had to depend on disability payments. We reserve the right to close comments at any time. My mother had a low-paying job in a bakery. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [8][24] She was hospitalized in Nairobi for two weeks and treated for acute malnourishment. Negotiating meant talking frequently with a man known to her as Adam the pipeline and lifeline to a daughter, whose protracted mistreatment was shocking to the point of sadistic. Time, coupled with therapy, would ultimately set her on a path to healing a still unfinished journey of which the book is a cathartic part. [14], At the time of Lindhout's abduction in Somalia, she was reportedly not affiliated with any news organization other than Alberta's Red Deer Advocate. All rights reserved. [13] While in Iraq, reports indicated that Lindhout had been kidnapped in Sadr City. She was tortured, starved, and abused repeatedly before finally. She told Andrew Denton of her 15-month ordeal. "I hit the bottom when I Googled possible ways to end my life painlessly," Lindhout said through tears in the witness box. Lenfant also stated that France 24 had declined two proposals by Lindhout to serve as a correspondent for the organization in Iraq and Somalia, respectively. Uncertainty was what I knew. I felt betrayed in a lot of ways. Because of this move, Lindhout and Brennan were kidnapped instead. The GEF also started the SHE WILL micro-loan initiative to financially empower widows and other Somali women. Why didnt you? But after that, I started throwing up and just found myself on the floor. The more I came to understand how literally they take it that everything is preordained, I realized that I couldnt argue with them about this being wrong, what they were doing was wrong. "We have offered half a million dollars. Amanda Lindhout is a sought after inspirational speaker trusted by big brands to deliver a life changing, transformational keynote experience. LINDHOUT: Of course I was angry for everything that was happening to me, but as time went on in captivity, I just realized for my own self, for self-preservation, that I couldnt stay trapped in that emotion, that I had to try to find ways to let it out, and thats when I started developing practices like choosing forgiveness in captivity. It is in her strength and obstinacy that one sees the qualities that helped her daughter survive the sexual assaults, the torment, the despair. At the end of the stairways I imagined rooms. Decided Not To Kill Herself Amid Torture. Want to discuss? Lindhout is serving as the executive director of the Global Enrichment foundation which she founded in 2010. It was supposed to get sorted quickly, but the kidnappers were demanding millions of dollars an amount far beyond the families ability to pay. The kidnappers' demand is simple: pay $2.5 million or Amanda will be killed. It was extremely distressful. Amanda Lindhout, 29, may be on the heels of the release of her memoir, A House in the Sky (out Sept . I put myself there, and thats where I lived. People should just have some compassion. On August 23, 2008, she and members of her entourage were kidnapped by Islamist insurgents in southern Somalia. [53] Lindhout's foundation aims to annually send 100 women in the country to university for the next four years,[4] and is sponsoring tertiary education for 36 women, who are expected to go on to become teachers, doctors, environmentalists and engineers, among other professions. Lindhout's powerful, riveting memoir, A House In The Sky: A Memoir Of A Kidnapping That Changed Everything, is full of potential indignities. When search suggestions are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. [5] In 2014, the book was optioned to become a major motion picture by Megan Ellison, with Rooney Mara playing the role of Lindhout. Lindhout, now 36, was a seasoned traveller and budding freelance journalist when she and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan were grabbed in the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu. [21] The kidnappers later lowered the ransom demand to $1million. Her parents got separated when Amanda was just a teenager. Nigel Brennan (born 18 May 1972) [1] is an Australian photojournalist and author. The two freelance journalists were released after fifteen months captivity. It was a spiritual experience that absolutely changed everything for me. Theyre more like a statement of gratitude for everything that I have, for my freedom now, for the ability to experience the beauty of the world again. They told us that they would behead us if the money wasnt paid. For months, Stewart engaged in terrifying and excruciating negotiations with him before she was able to secure her daughters release. Amanda and her ex-boyfriend Nigel attempted to escape by jumping from a window and running to a mosque. The pair weresent to their respective places in hometown. Mother of Amanda Lindhout pens memoir describing nightmare of daughters kidnapping, Amanda Lindhout trial hears testimony about torture, Australian photographer Nigel Brennan testifies at the Amanda Lindhout kidnapping trial about the horrors he witnessed when they were both held hostage in Somalia. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[728,90],'marrieddivorce_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_12',600,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-marrieddivorce_com-large-leaderboard-2-0'); On 23 February 2009, the Canadian Association of Journalist even requested former Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper to help to release Amanda. Because she was malnourished for so long, her digestive system is "compromised," she said. Not knowing and feeling like youre in the dark just added to the terror that we were already experiencing., VIDEO:Award winning author talks about her experience. We were doing what it took to survive.. Amanda Lindhout, the Canadian journalist kidnapped in Somalia in August 2008, has reportedly made a plea over the telephone to Omni TV. (Chris Young/Canadian Press). The two women shared many phone calls throughout the nightmarish ordeal. Young reporter Amanda Lindhout was aware of the risks, but three days after entering Somalia, she and her friend were seized. A resulting retraction was printed by National Public Radio in response to Brown's comments. Well, Amanda initiated her career as a cocktail waitress. READ MORE:Danielle Smith: Lessons learned from Amanda Lindhout. FAW: A Canadian, Lindhout longed to see the world, and on a shoe string budget backpacked in more than fifty countries. She later moved on to an assignment in Baghdad, Iraq in January 2008,[10] where she worked on a freelance basis for Iran's state television Press TV. 2008, Amanda Lindhout, Lorinda Stewart's daughter, is kidnapped outside of Mogadishu in Somalia. FAW: From that point on, as described in her book, it wasnt just her willpower, but her imagination which helped Amanda Lindhout to go on. Amanda Lindhout grew up under the shadow of her single mother i.e. FAW: Using what she learned in the Quran, she pleaded for her freedom. Her mother held a minimum-wage job. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'marrieddivorce_com-leader-1','ezslot_10',604,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-marrieddivorce_com-leader-1-0'); Amanda Lindhou and her boyfriend Nigel Brennan smiles after their ordeal in 2009 (Photo: nypost.com). Lindhout asserted that she and Brennan had converted to Islam to both appease their abductors and make life easier for themselves. READ MORE:Amanda Lindhout kidnapping: accused to face trial next October, Writing a memoir does take courage because everybody is going to see you differently, Stewart said. They were torturing her, Lindhout told her helpless mother. I think if education was to bring peace in Somalia, then it should've happened a long time ago because in 1991, when refugees came here, they were all educated". I couldn't believe I was free, often sure I was dreaming, and that I would wake up back in captivity with chains on my ankles in a dark room. [10] However, Lindhout in her book denied having been kidnapped in Iraq. Lindhoutalso bearsphysical scars from the torture she endured at the hands of Somali terrorists. (to Lindhout): You say, It wasnt surrender, and it wasnt defiance. [58], Lindhout's work for the Global Enrichment Foundation eventually drew her back to Somalia in July 2011. Lindhout says she did more than just survive the ordeal, she was transformed by it. LINDHOUT: The conversion to Islam was a survival strategy. In 2013, Amanda authored a book titled A House in the Sky: A Memoir, where she recounted her early life, her traveling as a young adult, and her hostage experience. I know the symptom is rooted to a knife being held to my neck in captivity and believing I was going to die.". We and our partners share information on your use of this website to help improve your experience. Unfortunately,some gunmen kidnapped Amanda and her teammates. She did everything they asked. I'm in a desperate situation. The more that I used these practices, like going to my house in the sky, the easier it became. A tearful Lindhout told an Ottawa courtroom in March she has crippling flashbacks to her kidnapping ordeal in Somalia. [28] On June 18, 2018, Ader was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the kidnapping. Amanda Lindhout has told how she was kidnapped in Somalia in 2008 with photographer Nigel Brennan, who was her boyfriend at the time The pair were abducted on their third day in the country and. Amanda Lindhout's Early Life and Education She was born on 12 June 1981, in Red Deer, Alberta, USA. [4] The two were kidnapped in lieu of two more experienced journalists (one of whom was National Geographic Magazine reporter Robert Draper), who had that morning beefed up their security before leaving to examine a refugee camp. Amanda Lindhout is photographed in Toronto as she helps promote her mother Lorinda Stewart's book "One Day Closer." A tearful Lindhout told an Ottawa courtroom in March she has crippling. Amanda was Created at Red Deer, Alberta, Canada June 1981 on 1-2. After being kidnapped in Somalia and enduring abuse at the hands of Islamic rebels for 15 and a half months, former freelance journalist Amanda Lindhout recalled the experience detailing. Amanda Lindhout, the Canadian freelance journalistwho was kidnapped in Somalia in August 2008 and held for 15 harrowing months,says sheagreeswith and understands the federal government's policy of not paying ransoms. Beaten and tortured, Ms. Lindhout, a freelance reporter from Sylvan Lake, Alta., was deeply despondent. 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