06-11-23, 10:29
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Brit Aid Worker Ian Purchase Kidnapped by Taliban Tells of Mental Battle in Solitary
British Aid Worker Ian Purchase 50, Kidnapped by Taliban Walked 12 Miles a Day in Cell to Keep Sane
Ian Purchase, Was Held Hostage in Solitary Confinement by The Taliban For Five Months Has Told How The Mental Battle Was Hardest to Deal With in His Cell
BBC 6 NOV 2023
Ian pictured as a paratrooper
Ex-paratrooper Ian Purchase, 50, was arrested in Afghanistan's capital Kabul in May on suspicion of breaking local laws. He says he was then chucked in solitary confinement until his release in October, where he was "beaten and whipped".
*But Ian says the mental anguish was tougher - not knowing what the next hour, let alone day, would hold. He desperately clung to a routine to preserve his mental health and prayed to God.
*He constantly paced his 18ft by 14ft cell, often walking up to 28,000 steps in a day - the equivalent of 12 miles.
The dad-of-two, who served in 3 Para from 1995 to 2001, is now safely back home and is coming to terms with what happened to him.
*Ian said: “I was kept in solitary. I was beaten and whipped in the first five days of being there. But the worst of the pain is the mental side - not knowing why you’re there or if you’ll ever get out. It was hard to tell day from night.
I’m agnostic but part of my routine was desperate heartfelt praying. I wrote the names of my children, my mum and ex wife on the wall.
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