'I decided I want to live': Former hostage Gerco van Deventer coming to terms with freedom
The 48-year-old on Tuesday spoke to CapeTalk about his six-year kidnapping ordeal.
CAPE TOWN - South African paramedic Gerco Van Deventer said that coming to terms with being a free man was overwhelming at first but he was now settling in.
The 48-year-old on Tuesday spoke to CapeTalk about his six-year kidnapping ordeal.
Van Deventer was taken in Libya in November 2017 and sold to militants in Mali a year later.
After a period of six years and one month, Van Deventer was released this past December, making him the longest-held South African hostage in captivity.
Van Deventer said that while the ordeal was horrific, he had made the decision to survive.
"And I decided I want to live, I'm going to make my captivity as comfortable as possible. So you do what needs to be done to make that happen for you. Obviously, you are separated from them, they don't talk to you, they don't want to talk to you, you are roughly 50 to 100 meters away from them but they will check on you."
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Van Deventer said he was informed he would be set free two days prior to his release.
"After speaking to my family, they never lost faith, they all had faith that I would come back... even myself, I had faith in my heavenly Father that if it's meant to be, He will take me out of the situation I was in and He will bless me with my freedom."
Van Deventer said he breathed a sigh of relief only once he crossed the border into Algeria.
"When I was at the Algerian border, the driver that was driving the vehicle, he just shook my hand, didn't say a word, and they put me in another car and started driving and the driver sitting next to me said to me, 'You are free' and I was in almost disbelief... they kept saying: 'It's finished, it's over, it's over, you are free.'"
Van Deventer said he was receiving counselling and with his experience, he plans to help others.
"My plan is to help people be prepared when they are planning to go and work in places like that, is to help them be prepared mentally, survival training for people going into conflict areas, to prepare them mentally and physically, to be ready."