Suffering need not destroy

By Terry Waite - 09/04/2009

 I am often asked if I continue to meet with the former hostages John McCarthy and Brian Keenan. John lives in England and we do meet from time to time but as Brian lives in Ireland he and I meet less frequently.

 

However, last week we were given a unique opportunity to all meet again as the BBC approached us and asked if we would take part in a Radio Four programme ‘The Reunion’. Whenever I can I tune into this programme which, as many will know, is expertly hosted by Sue McGregor. As well as the three former hostages they had invited Jill Morrell to join us and we duly gathered at a recording studio in North London.

 

I hadn’t met Jill for several years and was delighted to see that she looked the same as ever and was in excellent form. You may remember that she campaigned vigorously for John when he was in captivity and the press at the time expected them to marry each other. It was their joint decision not to and today John is happily married to Anna, and Jill remains contentedly single.

 

It would be true to say that we all approached the programme with some slight reservations as, when we do meet, we hardly ever talk about the days spent in captivity. Life has moved on for all of us and there are plenty of other topics to discuss. The programme was the first time all four of us had got together specifically to reflect on the past.

 

A fifth person had been invited to join us and that was the United Nations envoy at the time of our release, Dominico Pico. He pulled the strings that finally led to the end of the Beirut Hostage saga. 

 

As we began to record the programme a phone call came through to say that he had been stranded on a snow bound plane in New York and no planes were leaving the city - so we started without him.

 

I have to say that I enjoyed the experience far more than I thought I would. Jill was her wonderful self, calm and compassionate. John and Brian, who had spent so much time together in captivity, displayed their youthful exuberance which had helped them through the experience. And, of course, Sue was incisive and charming. A real professional.

 

Although we had all been marked by the events of those years we certainly had not been destroyed by them. John continues his journalistic career which had such an inauspicious start, as he was captured on his very first overseas assignment. Brian is married and is busy writing a new book from his base in Ireland. And Gill gets on with welfare work in the voluntary sector. The programme is to be broadcast in May so do keep a lookout for it.

 

After we had had a really pleasant lunch together I left for a meeting of Hostage UK, an organisation I helped found some time ago to give support to hostage families and to conduct seminars on issues surrounding hostage-taking. Although it’s about 17 years since I came home, hostages continue to be taken around the world - more than one would think. Its good to be able to look back on our experience and use it to give support to others who find themselves in difficulty. 

 

It was really encouraging to see how John, Brian and Jill had come though those years so positively.

 

As I frequently say: suffering need not destroy.