The Bobby Bones Show - TAKE THIS PERSONALLY: Jessica Buchanan on Her Kidnapping, Captivity, & the Life That Followed

Episode Date: January 25, 2026

Jessica Buchanan was a schoolteacher from Ohio who followed a calling to serve overseas. That calling led her to East Africa, meaningful humanitarian work, and eventually into one of the most terrifying experiences imaginable. Jessica shares the full story of how she was kidnapped in Somalia, held hostage in the desert for 93 days, and ultimately rescued by SEAL Team Six. She opens up about the moments leading up to her capture, the role intuition tried to play, what captivity was really like, and how she survived mentally when survival felt impossible. We also talk about the aftermath from PTSD, rebuilding identity, motherhood, faith, and what it means to “survive survival.” 🎧 Subscribe to the podcast for more episodes. 📲 Follow @jessicacbuchanan on Instagram. 📲 Follow @takethispersonally on Instagram. 📲 Follow @webgirlmorgan on Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. How much you wait, Wanda? Right now, about 130. I'm at 183. We should race. No, I want to leave here with my original hips. On the podcast, The Matchup with Alia, I pair prominent female athletes with unexpected guests. On a recent episode, I sat down with undisputed boxing champ, Clarissa Shields, and comedian Wanda Sykes to talk about Wanda's new movie, Undercard, the art of Trash Talk, and what it really means to be ladylike.

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A wild batch you were with. It was like a first closet moment from me where I was like... You're like, I don't feel like she's hot, like the rest of that. No, no, no. I was like, she's beautiful. but I'm appreciating her in a different way than these boys are. I'm not like, but listen to Los Coleristas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hello, gorgeous, it's Lala Kent, host of Untraditionally Lala. My days of filling up cups at Sir may be over, but I'm still loving life in the valley. Life on the other side of the hill is giving grown-up vibes, but over here on my podcast, Untraditionally Lala, I'm still that Lala you either love or love to hate. It's unruly, it's unafraid, it's Untraditionally Lala. Listen to Untraditionally Lala on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, I'm Iris Palmer, host of the Against All Odds podcast. Every week, I'm sitting down with exceptional people who have broken barriers even when the odds were stacked against them.

Like chef Victor Villa of Vias Tacos. You know the taquero from the Bad Bunny halftime show? It was great. It was a big moment. It was special. And I felt like I was really representing my family, you know, my brand. my city, I was representing all taqueros, not only of like, you know, the U.S., but of Mexico and beyond, all the taqueros of the world.

Listen to Against All Odds on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Starting a new series to officially kick off the new year. I know, we're a few weeks late, but I did have some news to share with you guys before we got really into 2026. Many people see the new year as an opportunity to start fresh, try new things, do things they've always wanted. chase dreams. So I have some guests lined up to really hone in on so many of those things. This week, we're starting with Jessica Buchanan, and her story is one that you'll want to hear and then you'll want to read her books. She was kidnapped in Somalia by pirates, held captive, and rescued by CL Team 6, and she's recounting the whole experience, as well as how she is now

surviving survival. I'm joined this week with Jessica Buchanan, and I'm really excited to share your story because it is A1 with so many twists and turns. Jessica, thanks. for joining me. Gosh, thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be here. Let's get started at the very beginning. I would love for you to paint the picture of who you were until we get to that kind of moment where your life took a drastic turn.

Sure. Well, I think the easiest place to start is in college. I was getting a teaching degree. And like after my first year, I went on a teaching trip to Honduras and got bit by the, oh, I can travel and work at the same time bug. And then as I went through, like my education courses really got involved in we're young and so idealistic and naive and thinking that I could go out and save the world. And so got very interested in some of the things that were happening in East Africa and did a service trip and almost died on that one. But that's another story.

And then I just felt really compelled and connected to continuing work. in East Africa and especially like in the northern Uganda, South Sudan area. And so I had to finish up my degree and had an opportunity to do my student teaching at an international school in Nairobi, Kenya, which was not what I had in mind. It was like a fancy private school and it was beautiful and wonderful, but I wanted to be like getting my hands dirty and that kind of thing. But they offered me a job and it was my my best way in to staying on the continent. So I took it. It was great. I started teaching fourth grade, loved it about two months into my teaching contract. I'm out with a bunch of my teacher friends one night. I always say it was a trashy nightclub because it really was.

We were just like blowing off steam and having a good time. Yeah, you're a bunch of teachers who were doing stuff and you wanted to get tired. We're young. We're in this amazing exotic place and so we're dancing. And I see this, like, cute guy across the room. And he looks up at me. He's on his phone. And I wave him over and he ignores me. Actually, he laughs at me and looks down again. And I thought, no, you didn't.

Right. I don't think so. And he looks up again and I wave him over again a little bit more, like, forcefully. Then he comes over and introduces himself. I think his name is Oric. And he tells me he's from Sweden. And I'd never met anybody from Sweden. So Oric seems like a likely name.

That sounds Swedish to me. He was a terrible dancer. So I was like, how about me just go talk? And so we went and got a drink and we talked for a four-hour street. And turns out his name is Eric. And I didn't know that until he wrote his name. I like that. It's Orrk, actually.

I know. Every once in a while, I call him Orrick when I'm mad. That was like 20 years ago. So we've been talking ever since. And so people always ask me, how does a school teacher who grew up in the middle of a cornfield in Ohio end up working in a place? like Somalia. And I'm like, well, it started with a guy. And so Eric at the time was working for an organization. He was the equivalent of a human rights lawyer, essentially. And his job was shifting, and he was going to be based up in Hargisa Somaliland, which is the northern part of Somalia,

where a lot of the NGOs were based in the UN had a presence there. And so we got married about a year and a half after we met and I quit my job and moved up there with him. Wow. Okay. And then Africa is where the story will take the turn. But I love that you guys met. First of all, the fact that you felt compelled one to share education around the world. That's a really passionate and cool experience. So before we get to everything else, what was that experience like? Because I imagine that's not only fun and amazing, but also really eye-opening. Oh, for you. for sure in so many different ways. Now, if I talk about formal teaching, like, again, it was a very different kind of environment. It was missionary kids, diplomat kids. I think we had 64 countries

represented in the school. So I just was exposed to so much diversity, so many different types of ways of doing things, religions, jobs. It was just, it was very cool. But on the weekends, I would go into Kibera slum, which is one of the, I think it might be one of the largest slums in the world. It houses about over a million people, at least at that time it did. And this is like real poverty. So I would go in and tutor on the weekends. There were some orphanages there. And that is opening in a completely different way. I just love to help people understand things. So it doesn't really matter what the content is. I've realized throughout the course of my career that content is easy to learn, but trying to communicate it to someone so that they can be empowered and educate themselves

is a real skill set. And it's when I happen to possess. And I've just, it was just really such a cool way to travel and to serve and to make a living. And then on that other side, getting to meet your husband this right? And out in the wild, which is crazy. Well, it's so interesting because I was thinking about this the other day. My dad, I had a couple of girlfriends. in college and stuff. And I'd had a very serious relationship before all of that. And I just couldn't find anybody that I, like, really clicked with. And my dad said to me, just go out and do what you love, go to Africa. And the best place for you to meet someone is when you're out doing what you love. And so wise words. Yeah. Very wise words. Yeah. I really carried that with me.

And it was really true. And but you were also doing what you love in a club, having fun, dancing. We can love many things. Exactly. And you. And you, meet your husband who you said you guys are now, obviously married and together and you have kids. Yes. Yep. And is that crazy too where you think about that portion of your life and the things that we're going to talk about just that it also brought you him and your kids? Yeah. Yeah. He is my person wholly and completely. And that was very solidified in the moments of what we're going to talk about next. Like dropping all these cryptic statements. Yeah. It's not meant to be. But I just, there's so much backstory to you. That's not all you are.

So I wanted to make sure we. I appreciate that. We paint the whole story first. So we can get a little bit deeper to the other things. Go ahead and share with us the piece that where everything really took the turn. Yeah. So I was working in Hargasa. We'd been there.

I'd been there for about two and a half years at that point. So this is October 2011. I started out just tutoring and teaching English lessons. We had a compound that we were sharing with other. aid workers, there were Ethiopian refugees living on the compound because we had the working farm and there was a little girl there. She was there with her dad. Her name was Muslima and there was no one for her to play with and so I didn't have a job. So I was like, hey, basically do you want to learn some English? And before I knew it, I had an entire dining room full of grown men, women, like all these

people. And we were playing these English games. It was so much fun. That's the thing about teaching is like you can always find a job. Like you can either create it or you can find one. And then word got out that there was a teacher in town like an actual teacher. And I started doing work for the Ministry of Education in writing curriculum because they were developing their different departments of the government. So that was a real interesting experience. And then I did work for the UN. And then I started doing work for DDG, the Danish demining group, which was the mine action unit of the Danish Refugee Council. So they were a non-governmental organization that was really focused on armed violence reduction and community safety. They had a couple of mandates. One of them was to actually go into

communities and do mine clearance because a lot of the communities that they worked in were maybe like five, 10, 15 years post-Civil War and there were still leftover UXOs or landmines that hadn't been cleared. And so it would leave parts of their communities unpassable. or little kids would be out there playing and see something shiny and not know what it was and pick it up and it could still explode. So our job was to educate these communities on the dangers and also if we were able to clear them. So again, back to that, like I have no experience in mind clearance or any education in that, but it's easy to learn content. And then I was able to apply my teaching pedagogical skills to, because when I walked in, to one of their trainings, they're like writing English words on a flip chart and you're sitting

in this group of people who are nomadic, largely non-literate, definitely don't speak English. So nothing you're doing is getting through to them. So we were able to come up with all kinds of creative things to impart these messages, to help make the community safer for kids especially. And it was so awesome. I got to travel all over East Africa, South Sudan, Northern Uganda. I got to go into parts of Africa that you only see on National Geographic. It was the love of my life as far as my job was concerned.

You were doing important work. I felt like it was important. We weren't like delivering food assistance or giving medical care. Like we weren't emergency relief, but we were doing something that I really felt mattered. And I felt good about my contribution. I didn't think I was out there saving the world, but I did feel like I was doing something meaningful. But in a way you were to me. and I'm not sure anybody else, whatever,

but to me you were. Providing education and giving people a way to communicate is a lifeline in itself. Yeah. Thank you. I think for those of us who've spent a lot of time in that world, we tend to downplay things. And I'm here to make sure you don't.

It's a whole culture. But I appreciate that. It did matter. And at the end of the day, it almost cost me my life. But I had been part of my portfolio, included traveling down to the southern part of Somalia. So it's very nuanced, but Somalia at the time was divided into three regions, essentially. We lived in the northern part, Somaliland, which was self-declared autonomous region.

So they had like their own government, but they have never been recognized worldwide as like their own country, but they functioned that way. So things were much safer and more, there was more infrastructure there. Down in the south, like in Mogadish, if you ever hear of anything. on the news about Somalia, something bad has happened probably, and it's probably happened around Mogadishu. We had a field office in a town called Galchayo, which was north of Mogadishu, definitely a little bit more precarious in terms of security, but we followed the United Nations security protocols and mandates. We had regional security advisors that we followed certain procedures and they gave us permission to go. and my colleague, a Danish gentleman named Paul, who was also a personal friend of mine, managed the operations down there.

And part of my job was to go down there and support his team, his education team. But I had canceled the trip. I was supposed to go down there for a three-day training. I canceled it twice because there were weird security things that were popping out. We weren't the target necessarily, but, and again, not to get two in the weeds, but the town was divided in half, essentially, and it was governed by two appointments. opposing clans. And so if you got caught in the crossfire, which is what I was worried about, something bad could happen. And I just didn't feel like the work that I needed to do necessitated me going down there. So I canceled a couple of times. And then the third time the trip came up,

I called him to cancel again. And he was like getting sick of it. He was like, like, if you're not going to get down here and do your job, then we'll find somebody who can. And I'm like, I get off the phone and I go talk to Eric. He's been in the area for so long. He knows everything there is to know as far from a foreigner perspective. And at this point, were you and Eric dating? We were married. You were married at this point. Okay. We'd been married for about a year. So very much newlywed still. And it was you have to make those decisions all the time, right? Like you have to assess the risk. And there's no, there are inherent risks to being in this part of the world for sure. you take those on. But is there like anything that's super obvious? No, my regional security advisors gives me permission to go. So I'm like, what's the worst that can happen, right? I'm a school teacher from Ohio. Yeah, you're like, nobody should need anything from me. Yeah, I'm just here to help. It's not a big deal. You're just being paranoid. So I get on a UN plane,

I go down. The training is three days. The first two days are in the northern part of the city. And we were actually staying on the compound where we were conducting the training. So I wasn't worried about that because I didn't have to leave, right? What I was worried about is the third day of the training because we had to leave that compound and drive in a convoy of armed vehicles across town, essentially, to another part of the city. And I knew from like different trainings I'd taken, my organization required us to take these heat trainings or hostile environmental awareness trainings. And I knew I was mis-wilnerable if I was in transit. I get up that morning. I remember I didn't sleep. Like, all night long, Paul and I had stayed up way too late. We were drinking white wine and

watching, I don't know, Led Zeppelin concerts or something. And I just hanging out. And I didn't sleep, but I'd had these nightmares all night long. And they were really vivid. And in my dreams, our compound was being stormed by pirates. And I woke up and I was like, ugh. It's just gross and stupid and where did that come from? And I got up and went to the bathroom and I remember looking at myself in the mirror and I said out loud to my reflection, do you want to do this? Your body was yelling at you. My intuition was just like doing cartwheels. Like we're trying to tell you in every way we can find a way.

And all I kept doing was like pragmatizing my way out of it, right? everybody's waiting for me. The trip has been planned. I've spent all this money to come down here. What's the team going to say if I don't show up? I'm going to lose my job, all the things. And I just put my headscarf on and looked at myself one more time in the mirror and walked out the door. But it was just like into a different life. So clearly your body's sitting here trying to send a message, figuring out something's going on, whatever it may be. And so you decided to walk out that door that day. Does something happen in transit like you anticipated? Or was it when you got to the location? Yeah. So we get across the green line just fine.

Do the training. Everything's great. And at this point, right? It's 3 o'clock in the afternoon. And I'm like, I am home free. All I have to do is get from here to the guest house. I'm leaving first thing in the morning. I was so paranoid.

I'm like chuckling at myself. You're just like whatever. You just need to calm down, right? And so we're waiting for the convoy of vehicles to come and pick us up. And so a convoy in that environment looks like land cruisers, like big land cruisers and you've got armed guards, like occupying the front and the back in case something can happen, right? And we have a driver.

And we're waiting for the convoy to come in. And our security advisor, it's a Somali guy, his name's Abdi Rizak. He keeps saying, okay, it's time to go. It's not time to go. Wait, on the phone. And I think this is weird behavior. but at the same time, whatever, let's just get home. And so we get in the car, we pull through the gates, and we're driving 10 minutes maybe.

I'm thinking about what I'm going to have for dinner. Can I get my workout in? You're home free at this one. Yeah, I forgot to send that one email to my boss. Let me do that. I text my husband. He's in another part of the country doing trainings. And so I'm like, okay.

And then all of a sudden, this other vehicle comes roaring up on the right side and cuts us off and stops us to a whole. pulp and mud splashes up all over the windows and the windshield of the vehicle and we can't see because it had been raining earlier and I look up and I just say to the whole car what a jerk who drives like that and to be fair like people drive like crazy and like in that part of the yeah but in that part of the world too but it was just like so abrupt and then all of a sudden I hear somebody banging on the car hood with something hard it turns out to be an AK-47 and it sounds like we're being surrounded by men who are like shouting into Mali. And I'm thinking, oh, my God. And then Abdi Rezak, the security advisor sitting next to me in the back seat,

he's on the right side. His doors pulled open. And there's a very angry man dressed in a police uniform holding an AK-47. He pulls him out, like straight out of his seatbelt and slams into the ground, hits him in the head and then gets in the car and puts the gun to my head and start screaming at the driver to drive. And I'm thinking like, I have two thoughts. that are like racing through my head. They're very simple and very fundamental. And the driver's just like taking off. He just starts tearing through the town.

He's like up on two wheels. He slammed back down. He's up on two wheels. Paul's in the front seat. And he's just like begging him. Please stop. Please stop. Please slow down.

You're going to kill us because it feels like he's going to flip the car. And I'm thinking, this is bad. This is bad. This is so bad. You're probably going through shock at the time. Yeah. And like not realizing what's going on. Yeah.

And then I kept thinking like, I don't have anything to reach for, right? I don't think I've ever seen a movie or read a book or taken a training that is giving me any frame of reference for this. Whatever this is is so bad. And then I kept thinking, like, even if they stopped and they kicked us out of the car and we're just being carjacked and they're just going to take our stuff and let us walk back to town, like something in my life in my worldview has shattered. like this belief or this idea or truth that I cling to that the world is a safe place, which I realize is a very privileged place to come from, but I did feel that way. It has been shattered. And everything about my life is going to change from this moment on and how I live it and how I approach it.

And of course, that is like in retrospect that I can articulate that. What I was just thinking in those moments was, oh my God, And this is so bad. We would drive for hours. We'd drive. We'd stop. They put other people in the car. It's like they were switching out teams or personnel.

We stopped. We're forced in other vehicles. At one point, I think Paul and I are separated, which was really scary. Because you two were the ones that were taken. Yes. And the driver was also taken at one point? No. No.

Okay. So we were the only two foreigners, if you will. There were other Somali staff, like our team. they were not harmed. And whatever this is, the two foreigners. Of course, I don't know that. Like, I have no idea what's going on at this point. Yes.

Hindsight. Exactly. But at that moment, at that time, I'm just, at one point, there's a guy sitting next to me and he's got like a sheet wrapped around it. He's got like a turbine and he's got a machine gun. And like an old machine gun, like really big and long and it doesn't fit in the vehicle. So he's hanging outside the vehicle. And then at one point, we stopped.

and I hear a high-pitched voice right behind me. And I think it's a woman. Like, oh, that would, like, why would there be a woman involved in a kidnapping? Like, what is going on here? Turn around and come face to face with a little kid. That was one of the people helping in your... Yes. He's a little boy.

He looks like he's nine. He's wearing belts of ammunition. He's got a gun that's bigger than him. and we like make eye contact and he does one of these numbers like head nod. Yeah. And then tells me to turn around. And I'm just like, what hell have I stepped into? Yeah.

You're especially coming from a teacher perspective. You're sitting there and that's a kid behind you? There's a little kid with an A.K right behind my head. What is this? And I think, I don't know at what point it was, but Paul was, he turned around, I think, to check on me. And I'm like, what is it? And he says, we're being kidnapped. And I'm like, I think I'm having a panic attack.

I think I can't breathe. It's all setting in. Yes. What in God's name is this? And why me? What is happening? And so we drive like into the middle of the night. I have no idea how many hours.

But it had to have been like 12 hours. A win is a win. A win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes

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or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. You can have opinions. You can have like a strong stance. And then there's your body having its own program. I'm Dr. Maya Shunker, a cognitive scientist and hosts of the podcast, a slight change of plans, a show about who we are and who we become when life makes other plans. We share stories and scientific insights to help us all better navigate these periods of turbulence and transformation. There is one finding that is consistent, and that is that our resilience rests on our relationships. I wish that I hadn't resisted for so long the need to change.

We have to be willing to live with a kind of uncertainty that none of us likes. Listen to a slight change of plans on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On a recent episode of the podcast Money and Wealth with John Hope Bryant, I sit down with Tiffany the budgetista Aliche to talk about what it really takes to take control of your money. What would that look like in our families if everyone was able to pass on wealth to the people when they're no longer here? We break down budgeting, financial discipline, and how to build real wealth, starting with the mindset shifts. Too many of us were never, ever taught. Financial education is not always about like, I'm going to get rich. That's great.

It's about creating an atmosphere for you to be able to take care of yourself and leave a strong financial legacy for your family. If you've ever felt you didn't get the memo on money, this conversation is for you to hear more. Listen to Money and Wealth with John O'Brien from the Black Effect Network on the I'd Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, everyone.

I'm Cheryl Stray, author of Wild and... tiny beautiful things. I'm excited to share that I have a new podcast called Mind Over Mountain. In each episode, I interview athletes, adventurers, and adrenaline seekers to discuss the inner landscapes and life experiences that informed and inspired their extraordinary feats. I also bring a bit of advice into the mix so we too can better understand how to face our own seemingly insurmountable challenges. Do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to pull out what you already have inside. We're coming into this world,

fighting for our lives. All I'm going to do is pull out what you already got inside. We're there to support and celebrate each other. And that's not like your story versus my story. You're going to walk up and over that dang mountain.

You're not just going to put your mind over it. Yep, yep, exactly. And if I can't walk up and over it, I'm going to go through it. Listen to Mind Over Mountain every Thursday on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm assuming to you don't know any of this link.

language that they're speaking. No. First of all, Smalley is a very difficult language to learn. And it's not for lack of trying, but it's difficult. No, I didn't know what was going on. I kept hearing them talk about Americon. They're talking really loudly. They're hyped up on this plant called cot chat. It depends on who you talk to. It's like speed. It's like an amphetamine. And they're like really hyped up and amped up. And so we stop. We're out in the middle of nowhere. It's so pitch black. There's no. It's so pitch black. There's no ambient light. We are not near anything. We're just out in the middle of the desert. And the guy with the machine gun shoves me out of the car and orders me to walk out into the desert. And I'm like, nope, I'm not doing that. I have no idea what's waiting for me out there, but I can guarantee you it's not going to be good. And so we go back and forth and he's like screaming at me to walk. And I'm like, no, and he's shaking his gun in my face. No, I have. No, I pressing myself up against the car and Paul comes around the corner and he takes my hand and he says Jessica you have to walk and I'm just thinking like I maybe I should have understood I just don't

understand like how is this my life yeah you are going through probably so many different emotions of anger and sadness and shock yeah and grief like it's all hitting you at this moment I would imagine Exactly. Yeah. And all I can think is I can't think very far forward because I don't want to like face whatever reality is waiting for me in those imminent moments. But I can feel that I'm heading, I'm like marching toward my death. And so as I like continue walking, Paul and I are like hand in hand and it's so dark and we're like tripping over thorn bushes. and rocks.

And I remember I gashed my leg on a rock and it starts bleeding. And I'm thinking like, okay, this is good. I can feel pain. This is, this must mean I'm still alive. Because at that point it feels so surreal that you're like, am I dreaming? Is this really happening? I feel like I'm floating over my body. I'm not grounded or tethered.

I think also that's probably like a defense mechanism, right? Fight or flight for sure. You're going through an out-of-body experience and you're detaching from what's happening. 100%. And I'm thinking, okay, I'm saying goodbye to Eric. I'm saying goodbye to my dad, my brother, my sister, my mom had passed away the year before. And so I felt her presence there very strongly. And I was just asking her to help me be strong. Help me be brave. Help me be dignified. I was very aware that I wanted to not have the last moments of my life be hysterical crying and begging for mercy or something. I just, I wanted to be dignified in those moments. And so we just walk and more people come out of the shadows and we're being surrounded and there's like chains of ammunition. I just remember thinking of it and the weapons and there have to be 20, 30. Who knows how many men and who knows how many kids, but at least this one. And then we basically just get out into some like random place out in the middle of the desert and they tell us to stop and get down on our knees.

And I think this is it. this is the end of my life. I'm 32, 31, and this is it. Like, I came here. I really did try to help. I tried to make a difference. Don't know why everybody's so angry at me. I'm sorry if I did something wrong. You're blaming yourself at this way. I'm just trying to make sense of how did I end up here? Yeah. And what did it have to do with you? You had so many questions that weren't answered. For sure. And then I think there's also this, I'm a person of faith. And so there's this God, why would you let something like this happen to me? You know, like floating around somewhere. You can't catch any of the thoughts because they're just like flying. All of them. At the same time, while literally being in a situation where you don't know if the next few moments are the end.

Right. And then you're like, is it going to hurt? Are they going to wait? Just everything that you could possibly think that could happen is going through your head. Absolutely. And then like things you're too afraid to think about happening. And so I'm on my knees. I'm waiting for a bullet to pierce my brain.

I'm waiting for my head to be cut off from my body. And then I just hear one of them go, sleep. I know that word. What does that word mean? Does that word mean what I think it means? Sleep. One of them says. And I'm just like, I don't understand.

And then they like shove me to the ground. And I realize they want me to lay down in the dirt and go to sleep. And amazingly I do. I like, mess out. It's almost like, yeah, like unconscious, right? And so for a couple, I guess for a couple of hours, I wake up and it's like becoming daylight and I wake up with a realization like, oh my God. It wasn't that happened.

And I am quite literally in hell. And that would begin 93 days as a hostage out in the desert. Oh my gosh. my heart is just racing for you. I can't even imagine that it's too. Well, yeah, and I'm sure reliving it is also difficult in itself to walk yourself back through those moments. So thank you. I know that takes a lot. And I know sharing your story is just as important to you, but it doesn't negate the fact that this is difficult to share. And I just, I have so many follow-up questions. First being, did you ever find out why they took you?

Money. They wanted money. It took about a week for us to get that answer. The scary part was we didn't really understand the context of who had us. So, like, in Somalia, there is, they have their own version of ISIS, essentially, or like the Taliban kind of. I'm probably, that's a bad comparison. But they're an extremist group. And that was what I was most afraid of.

Have we been taken? It's an ideological thing. Like, I'm a Christian, white woman from America. Are they making a statement? If that's true, then I'm goneer. And so it took a really long time to figure out who we could ask. Because mostly they just left you. If they weren't terrorizing you and threatening you, then they would just leave you alone

and leave you off in the corner under a tree. And finally, we asked this guy, his name was Abdi, who we, figured must be the leader of the group to some extent. And he spoke some English. And we asked Blink, are you going to kill us? And he said, no, no, no. We just want money. We just want money. And the relief I felt hearing that. But did you trust him when he said that? Well, you have to. That's the interesting thing about this whole thing is like you, I'll use my eye words. I found that I would hold on to some of the most ludicrous, unrealistic information because my brain needed to hold on to something and convince myself that it was true so that I could like hang on

and survive until whatever that happened, right? So I felt so much relief finding out that, oh no, we're not taking you for ideological reasons. We just took you for money. But then my heart sank again when I found out the ransom demand was $45 million. What? From I'm assuming our government or was they don't care where it comes from they just want money yeah from whoever's willing to get it these were not terrorists they were not extremists they are just a gang of random people it's not that random it is it's kind of like the mafia or something they're crooks they're criminals they don't care where they come from so but america does not negotiate with terrorists is how they say it but what they mean is they don't pay ransom demands it's further complicated because you got an

American and a Danish guy who work for a Danish company who were sent there by their company. It's not like we were freelance journalists out there gallivanting around Somalia. Our organization had sent us there to do a job and given us permission to go there. And so I did know somewhere in the back of my mind that our organization had insurance, like kidnapping and ransom insurance, which they don't talk about very widely because, right, it's not. It's going to deter a lot of people from working. for you. And it's going to cause a lot more incidents. Oh, yeah. They know that there's,

that's how this works. So that provided me a little bit of like mental relief, but also $45 million. Do you even know what that? Do you even? And we kept saying we're two aid workers. We're not a container ship off in the Indian Ocean that you've overtaken a whole crew and then all the stuff that's on the ship. We're two people that no one really cares about, like other than our families. And And then we heard that our organization countered at $20,000. And I'm like, look, I'm no mathematician, but that's going to take a really long time to meet in the middle. Yeah. So that was the first sign of a negotiation happening.

I guess so, yeah. Okay, so were they also giving you food and water at all? They were. But not a lot. We would get water. We would run out of water. I remember there was an incident. Oh, man.

and we were so thirsty because it's so hot during the desert yeah it's really cold at night but it's dry right and dusty and really hot during the day and one of them threw a jerry can at us if you were to is this similar to gas can right that they actually used for gas but they would use it interchangeably for water too and so you're you got like water you don't know the source it's leased with diesel and that's what they want you to drink so that's your choice or just like feeling like you're going to die from thirst. So it wasn't like that all the time, but sometimes. And then mainly what we ate was small tins of tuna. They had like little miniature cans of tuna. And people are always very fascinated by the fact that I had a pouch from my purse that they let me take with me that night.

And I have a thyroid condition. And so I had medicine in it. And I had the wherewithal to ask them if I could take it with me the night that they took us. Wow. And you needed that. And you needed that. I mean, did you not have had that? What would that have been like for you? I would have gone into a thyroid storm and died. So I needed my thyroid meds. One that you knew to ask in that whole thing. Yeah, something in my head was just, I don't know what's going to happen, but I need this if I can. I know you're probably going to just execute me. But also, in case you don't, I need my thyroid medicine. I don't know. Well, and probably looking back at that moment, too, in them allowing you to have it could have given you some context. I think it did.

I do remember thinking like, okay, if they let me, why would they let me take my bag if they were going to kill me? Yeah. So, but I had a fresh tampon in there, right? Because it's a bag that you keep in your purse. And after a couple of eating tuna out of a can with your hands dirty, you're disgusting. Like, this is gross. And so I started digging through my powder bag to see, is there anything in here I could use for a utensil? Turns out you can scoop tunic fish out of a can with a tampon applicator and suck it out.

And then I would wash. Innovation that I said. And I like have made a couple of reels about that. And people are always like, what? And I'm like it wasn't used. It wasn't like I found a used tampon on the ground out in the desert. You found out. Think about your brain in that situation of being like, what can I use?

And you found them and you just, you were focused on surviving. Yeah. You weren't focused on, I don't care what I'm using. I'm just trying to make this situation any way, shape, or form better than what this is. I've got a bodypin. I've got a tampon. What can I, how can I use these things? What's that?

I'm not going to get that phrase. What desperation is the mother of all invention. Is that it? Did I get that right? But you learn in a situation like this how resourceful you are. Did that end up becoming like now when you carry around a person, everything? Do you carry more things with you? Did that ever have no long impact?

My bag over there, I could probably live out of that thing for two weeks. weeks for sure. But I also can see like how much you can survive on how little you can survive on, right? But I do have a thing. I've got lots of PTSD, lots of things that still, this has been 13 years that still impact me. And yeah, carrying around a bunch of crap in my bag is one of them. Well, and if you're comfortable with it, I'd love to hear more about that experience because that's the other side of this. This is now not only did you survive and also we'll get to that you were rescued by SEAL Team 6, I'm correct. But I want to hear the post of all of this.

Like your experience, going back into life after all this happened, the bag that changes things. But I also know you made a post about traveling and how flying on airplanes is also difficult. Like walk me through those posts, this situation. Yeah. What that's like for you now. So I call this phase.

And I think I'm like moving out of it, but it's taken me a really long time. but surviving survival. So there's surviving the traumatic event and then there's the after. And so for those of us who are fortunate enough to have survived, whatever that event is, then we have to figure out how to, if we want to, rebuild our lives in the aftermath of everything just falling apart. And so when I came back, when I was brought back, I didn't know who I was anymore. My identity had cracked because it had been so connected to my work. I had terrible PTSD. I had debilitating anxiety. I didn't feel safe in the world anymore. I didn't know what I was capable of doing anymore because my identity was very much wrapped up in my work. I couldn't continue

going out in the field anymore because I just couldn't. I don't think anybody would also expect you to after that type of scenario. Well, my organization did after a while, which is a whole other story. But yes, Right. So what am I going to do? What am I qualified to do? All of those questions. And then everything feels really hard and scary. And that surviving survival space is what gets people. It's what keeps them ruminating over the past. It paralyzes them and keeps them from moving forward because they're also drowning in shame because of whatever has happened. Or perhaps they don't, they feel like they should be able to move. on and through it where the truth is you don't move through any tragedy or trauma you just continue to move forward and so never quite leaves you i would imagine no never and yes i can talk about it now yes i'll be extremely tired after this conversation i know how to take care of myself now but in those early days and i was i am talking to a friend about this who's also been through some pretty hard stuff and i've been extremely public about this also

I guess I didn't have to, but I did feel a sense of responsibility to say thank you and to be vocal and to share because of the link to the military and seal team six in that community because it's true. If they hadn't come and gotten me, I would have died out there. And so it was a high profile media event. Again, I'm not going to act like some victim here that, oh, I have to give speeches and write books. I've chosen to do that. That's been part of my healing journey. and that doesn't work for everybody, but that takes a tool to. It's another part of just navigating the after.

Well, and I totally understand that responsibility and that care that you want to give to your experience. There's a kindness almost to it that you're treating yourself and saying, hey, you went through this and I'm going to recognize it. And we're going to do things that hopefully bring good from it. I hope so, yeah. And I would imagine that's mostly that goal for you. And so, but to not recognize that still. being able to share hard things doesn't mean it's easy.

It's important and it's needed and it's necessary, but it doesn't, again, negate the hardness that comes at. Two things can always be true and that's what this is. So I think it's amazing that you're sharing and being willing to share because I cannot imagine going through an experience like this. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

Yep, that's me. Clever Taylor the Fourth. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music.

The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. You can have opinions, you can have like a strong stance. And then there's your body having its own program. I'm Dr. Maya Shunker, a cognitive scientist and hosts of the podcast, a slight change of plans, a show about who we are and who we become when life makes other plans.

We share stories and scientific insights to help us all better navigate these periods of turbulence and transformation. There is one finding that is consistent, and that is that our resilience rests on our relationships. I wish that I hadn't resisted for so long the need to change. We have to be willing to live with a kind of uncertainty that none of us likes. Listen to a slight change of plans on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On a recent episode of the podcast Money and Wealth with John Hobrient, I sit down with Tiffany the budgetista Aliche to talk about what it really takes to take control of your money. What would that look like in our families if everyone was able to pass on wealth to the people when they're no longer here?

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Listen to Money and Wealth with John O'Brien from the Black Effect Network on the I'd Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, I'm Cheryl Stray, author of Wild and... tiny beautiful things. I'm excited to share that I have a new podcast called Mind Over Mountain. In each episode, I interview athletes, adventurers, and adrenaline seekers to discuss the inner landscapes and life experiences that informed and inspired their extraordinary feats. I also bring a bit of advice into the mix so we too can better understand how to face our own seemingly insurmountable

challenges. Do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to pull out what you already have inside. We're coming into this world, fighting for our lives. All I'm going to do is pull out what you already got inside. We're there to support and celebrate each other. And that's not like your story versus my story. You're going to walk up and over that dang mountain. You're not just going to put your mind over it. Yep, yep, exactly.

And if I can't walk up and over it, I'm going to go through it. Listen to Mind Over Mountain every Thursday on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You've created a really beautiful, life for yourself and you have kids and I'm sure all of that came with so many levels of that PTSD. Yes. But you've chosen to.

You made the choice to and I think that's really cool. And I know that is hard. It's a choice every day. It is. And it's an easier choice to make now. There were some really dark moments for a long time. It was really hard. I got pregnant with my son like a week after the rescue.

Wow. I talk about a miracle. But that really threw me for a little. loop. I was like, wow, I really need a break here. Now I have to show up for this other human being. And in retrospect, of course, I know that was all the plan. Like, that was part of the plan, right? I had no, I don't feel like I had a choice to heal because I needed to be, I had a responsibility to my children to go to therapy, to do trauma treatment, to do the journaling and the meditation and the prayer and be on anxiety meds if I need, whatever it was, so that I could be the most healed version of a mother

that I could be for them. And I don't know. I would like to think that I would have taken those measures if I hadn't had kids, but most likely I probably just would have ended up drinking a bottle of white wine every night because I didn't have to show up for anybody the next day. And so I really see it as God's grace in my life that I didn't get pregnant so quickly. Wow, but you were healing. You hadn't even gosh, you probably hadn't even decompressed from everything. I don't even know how my body got pregnant or I lost 45 pounds. Do you know if you were pregnant during that all was happening or did it happen? So I've written about this.

I don't know why. Sorry if that's too personal fun. No, it. No, no. Because I've written about it and published about it. I do believe. So my husband, Eric and I were trying to get pregnant when all of this happened. And I do believe I had a miscarriage at the beginning of the kidnapping of captivity.

I had some. I'd never had one before. and have it had one since. So I do believe that's what happened. And I really was grateful because I can't imagine how complicated everything would have been if I had been pregnant. So I don't really think about that or focus on that very much. But the fact that like with extreme quick weight loss, I was 119 pounds when I came out.

And I'm almost six feet tall. So that was significant. Significant. And then to be able to get pregnant and hold on to the pregnancy, like I just, I don't know. It was just, to me, it's miraculous. You just, I don't know how one person could handle so much of what you were going through. And also you had mentioned very briefly that you had lost your mother a year before. I mean, I just like, to make the choice to be here and to do the things is so beautiful.

And it's a testament to who you are and the strength that you carry with you and the love that you have surrounding you. I imagine your husband was a critical part in your healing. And that is just the thing, right? Like, I recognize how privileged I am. I write about this a lot. I just had a book come out, How to Survive Survival. And a lot, like so many of us,

none of us escape the human experience unscathed. We're either we've survived something, we're surviving it right now, or we will. Like, that's just the human experience. What we don't get to choose is, like, some of us have more tools in our toolbox, right? Like, we have family who is supporting us, or we have maybe resources available to us

that other people don't have. And in my situation, I just feel so lucky. Yes, I have this amazing man who just, I knew he was a bulldog while I was sitting out there in the desert. I knew he was beating down every door. He was doing whatever he could to get me out of there. I knew my dad and my brother and sister were praying and supporting and doing what they could. And I also committed to my mental health recovery while I was out there. And I did good on that promise to myself. And so, but not everybody has those. support systems or those resources available. And so I do think that I'm just really lucky in that regard. And that's an important piece to this puzzle for sure at the end of it to recognize the role your life has in it. And I love that you speak on just so many different angles and the nuance of all of it because it's necessary to. I think so. None of it's like black and white. Like it's not oh, well, this trauma is worse than this trauma. You can't compare anything because we are all working on different baselines. Yeah. Like,

for whatever reason, I just have a really strong mind. I was so worried that I was going to have a psychotic break while I was out there. Because if that, there was a time to have one, it would be then. Well, and nobody would fault you for that. That would be completely fair and in your right to what was happening. 100%. But I knew that was my fear and I needed to safeguard myself and figure out a way to keep myself as mentally strong as I possibly can and it turns out the methods that I used while I was in captivity are still things that I apply to my life now. Do you mind sharing them? No, not at all.

It sounds so cliche, but like gratitude. It really, it's the easiest hack. Yeah. For surviving life. I got to a point where I would not go to sleep while I was out there on my mat, on the ground, until I could say five things that I was actually grateful for. And sometimes they were really pathetic. but I'm glad my toenail didn't fall off today or so just really, really stretching it.

It changes things and it gives you the strength to make it through to the next minute. Sometimes it's minute by minute. And I have so much empathy for people who are struggling through something. I don't feel like they can get out of bed, whether it's literally or metaphorically. And sometimes all you can do is just move your big toe. And that's enough. And so for me, that's what it was like. I also spent a lot of time in reflection.

And I'm a very reflective person anyway. And so that was easy for me to do. But I got really organized about it. And I, again, I was grieving the loss of my mom. And so I used a lot of this time that I had to think about some of the dysfunction of our relationship and really find some closure in my grief process while I was out there. And it helped me gain some clarity around. my mom and why maybe she did some of the things she did and why I responded the way I did. And I think there were some really beautiful moments of like forgiveness. And so all of those things can be applied

very easily when you don't have a gun held to your head. And if they can be that effective then, then they most assuredly can be that effective now. Well, can I just mention that it's remarkable that you even thought to utilize those tools in a state where you were in fight or flight? Because most of the time when you are in a fighter flight, it's really hard to, one, advocate for yourself, to show up for yourself, to do all the things that are needed to take care of yourself. And you had enough wherewithal to just force yourself to give you that hope to move forward. Well, it also provided me an escape because what I've learned is that our minds are so powerful. No one. Only you have control of your mind. No one else can gain. entrance into your head. I will often say my body was being held hostage, but my mind had never been

freer because what I learned was the power of my thoughts. And what I focused on, what you appreciate appreciates, right? And if I had just been laying there in the fetal position thinking, oh my God, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, then I probably would have. But that was helping no one. And so it really is, it's all, it's a mindset. thing. That is the hack. That is the way you win at life and how you survive it is it's all in your mind. That's such a great tool that you've got to carry with you through so many things. I feel really grateful to have learned it. It would have been nice to have learned it outside of captivity. Right. Any other way. Yeah. Actually, like any other way. But you know what? I'm not going to learn the

lesson twice. I got it this time. So we're good. Yeah. You're like, I yeah, that one will stay safely in my head forever. Yeah. I do want to talk about that rescue part side of this because you were rescued by SEAL Team 6. So how did that even come to fruition? Did it involve your husband? Because you did mention how he was beaten down doors and trying to make some moves and do things. So what happened in the rescue? So unbeknownst to me that when something like this happens to an American citizen abroad, the FBI gets involved immediately because it's a crime against an American. And so the FBI was working along with my organization. And because my husband had been in Somalia working and knew the environment, the landscape very well, not the physical landscape, but the cultural landscape, rather.

He was really brought in as an expert, right, to run things past. And I had what were, would have been a series of six proof of life calls. And those are when those are just like what you see on TV, right? They like put you on the phone. For me, they would drive us deep, deep out into the desert, put us on a satellite phone and we would talk to somebody from our organization and answer. security questions that would identify us, what your mother's made name, what's the tattoo on your back, because they needed to make sure that we were alive still so the negotiations could keep moving forward. And my sixth proof of life call was January 16th, 2012, and it would be my

final one, unbeknownst to me. And I said to the communicator who was speaking on behalf of our family, I listed my symptoms. I had contracted a UTI from being out there in the desert. And I was like on week two of an untreated urinary tract infection. I knew it was moving into a kidney infection because I'd had one actually like the year before. And I was hospitalized in Nairobi for a week. So pretty serious things, right? And I told her my symptoms and I said I knew exactly what's happening. If you guys don't get me out of here, I'm going to die. And I think I said something like, and it's going to be all your fault. Well, yeah, and you're speaking from a place of panic. Yeah. You need to know how serious this is. This is, we are now at a life and death situation here, right? And so I get off the phone, go back.

My health continues to decline to the point where I'm like losing the ability to walk. I'm throwing up all the time. It's getting bad because you have to understand I'm like outside the whole time. They don't take us to a house. They don't take us to a shelter. There's no bathroom. I'm not showering. I'm living outside. And you're probably in the same clothes you've been wearing the whole time? Someone took my underwear. Okay. Yeah. Weird. Yeah, weird. I had washed them a couple days into after I'd had this massive, whatever it was, like miscarriage, I think. I washed my

underwear and my pants and I laid them like on a bush to dry and somebody took them. And so I kept asking for new underwear. And they didn't understand what I meant. And so I had no underwear. Oh, my gosh. And that's a, I mean, talk about sanitary. Yeah. There's no barrier. I'm just going to the bathroom out behind Bushet.

It's just sometimes I still can't believe I, like, did all that. So we get to 10 days later, January 24th, moving into the 25th, 2012. And I'm just in a really bad way. I'm in a lot of pain and like abdominal pain, cramping, high feet. I mean, Paul helps me pull my mat out into the field where I'm going to sleep. And there are nine guys on the ground that night. And I was always sleeping with machine guns pointed at my head, like surrounding my mat. And then there would always be someone like sleeping next to me, guarding me or whatever.

And I remember that night in particular, there were two stars that would come out at the same time every night. I know this sounds like I'm making it up, but I'm really not. And they're big and bright and beautiful. And I would, I named one for my mom. And so I would talk to my mom every night and tell her. There was usually not much going on, not much to report. But I remember saying to her, like, I need you to go and tell God that he needs to do something or else I die out here.

I just, I don't want this to be that. So I fall asleep. I wake up a couple hours later because I'm sick. And I like get up. And I'm saying toilet, toilet because that's how I asked permission to leave the mat. And all nine of them are passed out. They're like snoring. Like they're like passed out.

And I'm like, Oh, this is weird. Because always at least one of them was up at night, keeping watch over the camp. No one would wake up. So I picked up a small flashlight, like a penlight, and I start flashing it. And I'm like, toilet, toilet. And I like crawl my way over to the nearest bush. I do what I need to do. I come back to my mat. Everybody's still completely passed out. I wrap myself up in my blanket. And I can hear something like a noise as if there's like maybe an animal or something walking. toward me. It's not like just sand. It's sand and then tufts of long grass and shrub and stuff. And it sounds like something's breaking the grasses. And I don't know if it is. So I cover myself back up. And then

the pirate who's sleeping on my left, I can't see anything because it has gotten really dark now. The clouds have overtaken the stars. There's no moon. But I can tell he's terrified. I can feel it. And he's standing up. I can tell he's holding his AK and he's whisper screaming at all the other guys in Somali. wake up, wake up, wake up. And they're like rousing. All of a sudden, this just like shot rings out. And I don't know who, where it came from. And then the night just erupts into automatic gunfire. And it's just like, boom, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like laying there on the ground like, oh my God. Oh, my God. Like we're being overtaken. I'm thinking we're being taken by al-Shabaab because that was always the threat. Or maybe another group and we're going to be re-kidnapped because that can happen.

Just like laying there on the ground and I put the blanket over and I'm trying to get as low as I can to the ground. I feel like if I could just disappear, I'm just praying to disappear and sink into the ground. And there are all these shots being fired. I can see sparks and these guys are dropping to the ground. They're making the most horrific sounds. They're dying all around me. And then I'm just like, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, over and over again. Oh, God, oh, God.

And then somebody grabs my ankles and my shoulders and tries to pull the blanket away from my face. I'm trying to protect myself. I have my hands in front of me. And I'm just like just trying to shield myself because I don't know what, I don't know what they're going to do to me. And then all of a sudden I hear the sound of a young American man's voice. And he knows my name. And he says, Jessica.

And shock just overtakes me immediately. And I just, I start shaking and trembling and I can't stop shaking. And all I can say over and over again is, you're American? What are you saying? You're American? Like, I don't understand where you come from? You're American? And they pulled the blanket away from me and helped me sit up.

And the soldier closest to me gets down on my level. And he says, we've been watching you for a really long time. We know how sick you. And he's got medicine. He's got antibiotics. And he's got a bottle of water. And he gives that to me. And I'm just like, I don't.

Like, I just, again, like, I have my, I can't process. I can't think straight. It's the reverse side. Like when you got taken, now you're on the other side and you're like, is that real? Is this happening? Exactly. Is this another, is this a dream? Maybe I've died.

Maybe all these things are going through my mind, right? And then now I can start to make out there are all these soldiers around me. They've got these masks on. And one of them says, we've been watching. And he says, do you know where your shoes are? And I'm like, no. I have no idea where my shoes are. And so he's okay, well, we've got to get you out of here.

We've got to take you to a place of safety. And I'm like, okay. And so here's what we're going to do. I'm going to pick you up. And I'm going to put you over my shoulder. And I'm going to carry you to the edge of the camp. And I'm like, okay. And so that's exactly what he does.

And I just will never forget. He's running across the desert. My head is like bobbing up and down against his back. And I'm thinking, I am a school teacher from Ohio. How can this be my own? You're like at this point, is this real? I in a movie? Did this just get completely made up? What is this? And so he puts me on the ground. My first question is, where's Paul? Did he make it out? Is he okay? And he's there. He's sitting on the edge of the

camp and he leans over and he says, Jessica, do you know who these guys are? And I'm like, I have no idea what is going on. He's like, this is Sealed Team 6. These are the guys that got us so rotten. Wow. And I'm like, I'm, what? What? And then it would just unfold from there. It's just been the most life-saving, life-giving, and life-changing experience in my life in so many ways. But what tremendous, tremendous community and individuals they are from at one point they weren't sure the premises were safe. And so they had Paul and I lay down. And several of them laid down on top of us to guard us. And then the rest of them formed a human shield. And of course, I didn't understand this at the time, but not only did they, like,

jump out of a plane from 25,000 feet up in the air, hike in three miles, and then take out all of these guys for someone they don't know. And then we wait for the heloes to come in. And it's a medical helicopter, so we start receiving medical treatment right away. And then, And then they put us on a plane in Galchio that's going to take us to Djibouti, which is like, I don't expect people to know where this is, but it's another African country up right above the Horn of Africa. And there's a big American military base there. And so we're going to receive treatment there on the way there.

The lights are up and we're on this plane and all these guys, they're like celebrating. They're hooping and hollering. And they're like, are you hungry? Do you want to snick our bar? We've got tips and salsa. And I can't make words come out of my mouth. I just remember I'm wearing this like Somali dress. It's completely ripped down the back.

I'm filthy. I have no underwear on. Like my hair, I've been combing it with a fork. I got a fork. Like, I am a shell of the woman that I once was. And I feel so embarrassed by my, like, appearance and also so grateful. And I'm panicking because I'm thinking, oh, my goodness, I've lost all my social skills. Maybe I'm a total freak.

I'm able to talk to people again because I'm. I've spent so much time in the desert and solitary confinement. I'm like freaking out. And one of them comes over to me very quietly and he gets down on my level and he puts something in my lap. And I look down and I see that it's an American flag, a full that they brought on the mission. He just says, welcome. I'm going to start crying.

I'm just imagining the experience you're having. I mean, I cry every time I tell it. And I probably told it a thousand times. And I'm just like, I don't know that I was like especially patriotic. I mean, grateful to be an American for sure. But in that moment, I was just like, this is what to belong to a country who will leave nothing. But they don't leave people behind in that regard. And I just, tears just ran down my face.

And then the words they came out, then they could come out. And it was just thank you. All that gratitude and days of gratitude, we're probably pouring back out of you. There's nothing more you can say, but thank you. Your story is so special, Jessica, and I know it was never part of your plan, and it was never something that you'd like to repeat ever again. No. But for you to be able to be the one, to be the vessel, to continue to share the story,

to share all these bits and pieces and moments, because there's so much more. And I wish I could have you here to share it all, but I think you'd actually need the week to really recover if we truly dove all the way in. But your story is so important. And I'm so glad that you took the time to be here. And I do want you to shout your book out again in your social media because people can continue to follow your story. So if people are interested in learning more about the actual event and possible odds, the kidnapping of Jessica Buchanan and her dramatic rescue by SEAL Team 6. And then I have a lot of anthologies and deserts mountain tops. And then the latest book is How to Survive Survival,

a guide for turning life's hardest moments into meaningful contribution for the world. And I do hang out on Instagram way too much, Jessica C. Buchanan. So I love it if people reach out and connect with me. I love hearing people's stories, helping them tell their stories and just connecting. Well, and the way we always in this podcast, and there is no one better to ask, but I like to end it on something inspirational, or just something maybe we didn't get to that's heavy on your heart that you want to share.

And I just give the platform over to you. So I have a good friend. His name is Martin. And he has an incredible story of his own. And so I feel like it's important that people understand that I didn't say this. But he said it to me during a conversation and it's changed my life.

He said things don't happen. They don't always happen for a reason. But that doesn't mean we can't. derive purpose from it. And so I just feel like that so perfectly encapsulates my situation, right? Like my story, I didn't spend a whole lot of time in the aftermath thinking about asking why did this happen to me. I asked why did it have to change everything, but I write about that and how to survive survival. But I really do believe, I really, really do believe that the key to healing from the hard stuff that happens to us in life is to connect with some sort of purpose

outside of herself. And so if anybody's listening to this and they're in a place where they're like wondering now what, I really hope that something in my story connects and you feel inspired to think about the fact that perhaps things changed because they had to and that there is, there really can be a purpose for it all. Jessica, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. Because again, I know that that could have been really hard to just repeat all the stories, all the moments, all the emotions, really reliving that experience. And I know that it will change some lives and it will continue to do so. So thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. It's my honor and privilege. Jessica is such an incredible storyteller and beyond brave for willing

to share her story in order to help others in so many ways. A reminder that you can watch every single interview of the podcast on YouTube at Webgirl Morgan. You can follow the podcast Instagram for extra content at Take This Personally. As always, I'm so happy. that you're here. Thanks for showing up and supporting. Let me know if there are any guests. You hope make it on to the podcast this year because I will be checking the DMs for that. And any other questions, comments, concerns. Hit me up there too. So bye for now, my friends. How much you wait, Wanda? Right now, about 130. I'm at 183. We should race. No, I want to leave here with my original hips. On the podcast, the matchup with Lalia,

I pair prominent female athletes with unexpected guests. On a recent episode, I sat down with undisputed boxing champ, Clarissa Shields, and comedian Wanda Sykes, to talk about Wanda's new movie Undercard, the art of trash talk and what it really means to be ladylike. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search the matchup with Alia and listen now. Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports Network. Readers, Katie's finalists, publicists. We have an incredible new episode this week for you guys. We have our girl Hillary Duff in here, and we can't wait for you to hear this episode. They put on Lizzie McGuire at 2 a.m. Video on Demand. This guy's boo-a-m.

Louie and whatever time it is, Lizzie McGuire. And I'm like, a wild batch you were with. It was like a first, like closet moment from me where I was like, you're like, I don't feel like she's hot, like the rest of them. No, no, no. I was like, she's beautiful. But I'm appreciating her in a different way than these boys are. I'm not like, but listen to Los Angeles on the I Heart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or whatever you get your podcast. Hi, I'm Iris Palmer, host of the Against All Odds podcast. Every week, I'm sitting down with exceptional people who have broken barriers, even when the odds were stacked against them. Like chef Victor Villa of Vias Tacos. You know the taquero from the Bad Bunny halftime show? It was great. It was a big moment.

It was special. And I felt like I was really representing my family, you know, my brand, my city. I was representing all taqueros, not only of like, you know, the U.S., but of Mexico and beyond. All the taqueros of the world. Listen to Against All Odds on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hello, gorgeous, it's Lala Kent. Host of Untraditionally Lala. My days of filling up cups at sir may be over,

but I'm still loving life in the valley. Life on the other side of the hill is giving grown-up vibes, but over here on my podcast, Untraditionally Lala, I'm still that Lala you either love or love to hate. It's unruly, it's unafraid, it's untraditionally Lala. Listen to Untraditionally Lala on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast.

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