Lorinda Stewart was dismayed when the Hollywood ending she had played over and over again in her mind during the 460 days her daughter was held hostage in Somalia didn’t unfold as she envisioned.“I was shocked by the skeletal girl standing before me,†Stewart writes in her newly-released book, One Day Closer, about the time she first saw her freed daughter Amanda Lindhout in a Nairobi hospital in November 2009.“But hardest to bear was her eyes, surrounded by dark circles. They were haunted with experiences of pain and sadness that no one else could comprehend. Any fantasies I had held about Amanda’s release and our return to our ‘before’ life were shattered. We had a very long journey still ahead of us.†Read more: Accused Lindhout kidnapper admitted receiving $10K of ransom: RCMP officer‘We’re looking forward to a new lease on life,’ Joshua Boyle tells the Star after five-year kidnapping nightmareStar investigation: Held hostageStewart spoke to the Star Monday, alongside Lindhout, talking about that eight-year journey to heal and revealing the behind-the-scenes details of ransom negotiations that freed her daughter.They also offered compassion and advice for the families of Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle, whose story continues to unfold since the couple’s dramatic rescue Wednesday in Pakistan, along with their three children. The couple had been held for five years by the Afghanistan-based Haqqani network — their two sons and daughter were all born in captivity. “I truly hope for the families people will be kind and put down their judgments as people really don’t know the facts of the whole story,†Stewart said about the couple, who were kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012, during a backpacking trip. “My experience of those first years post-release, it was really difficult to reintegrate and come back into the world fundamentally a changed person,†Lindhou ...
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