Podcast Summary: "Held Hostage by Somali Pirates"

We're All Insane
Host: Devorah Roloff
Guest: Jessica Buchanan
Date: December 22, 2025

Overview

In this gripping episode, Jessica Buchanan—a former humanitarian worker, teacher, bestselling author, and survivor—shares in vivid, raw detail the story of her kidnapping and 93 days of captivity by Somali land pirates. Jessica intimately explores her journey from an Ohio childhood to the Horn of Africa, the inner workings of her abduction, the psychological and physical toll of being held hostage, and her complex process of healing and finding purpose afterward. Her story is both a harrowing survival tale and a profound reflection on trauma, resilience, and recovery.

Main Topics & Key Insights

1. From Ohio to Somalia: Jessica's Humanitarian Journey

• Background & Motivation
  • Jessica grew up in Ohio, raised on the belief: "To whom much is given, much is required." (01:40)
  • Early teaching stints in Honduras and a dangerous trip to South Sudan sparked her passion for service work in Africa.
  • Met her husband Eric in Nairobi. His work led them to Somaliland, where Jessica became deeply involved in demining education and community safety.

2. Aid Work and Increasing Danger

• Jessica became the regional education advisor for the Danish Demining Group, focusing on creating accessible mine-safety education for at-risk, often illiterate communities.
• The risks of the region were present: "There was always a risk. There's an inherent risk involved, because this is Somalia. This is third world. But what are the chances?" (14:48)

3. Ignoring Intuition: The Lead Up to Kidnapping

• Jessica had a strong gut feeling something was wrong before the trip to southern Somalia, but organizational pressure and protocol led her to push through.

  "I had canceled the training twice because I didn’t feel good about it…I got off the phone knowing that he was right, and also feeling like I was right." —Jessica, (13:40)

• Internal struggle between professional duties and personal safety instincts.

4. The Kidnapping: Ordeal Begins

• The Abduction (Start: 23:10)

  • Details the ambush: cut off in traffic, surrounded by armed men, Abdul Razak (security advisor) violently pulled from the car—later revealed as an inside job.
  • Realization sets in with Paul’s words: “We’re being kidnapped.” (31:45)

• Brutality and Disorientation

  • Vehicles moved at high speed into the desert, separated from familiar surroundings.
  • Jessica's mind whirled with disbelief: "This is bad. This is going to change my life forever." (29:32)

5. Life in Captivity: Survival, Despair & Coping

• Initial Terror & Powerlessness

  • Forced to kneel in the desert: “I’m 31, and I wish I hadn’t put off having kids...I’m gonna die essentially alone." (39:36)
  • Physically shut down by overwhelming fear: "My body took over—it was so primal. I passed out." (41:15)

• Daily Life, Deprivation, and Dehumanization

  • Hostage in open air for 93 days: “We were outside the whole time…Skin cracking, sunburned, eyes swelling shut, GI issues, menstrual hygiene nearly impossible.” (54:30)
  • Bodily functions, hunger, and makeshift strategies: "I ate tuna fish with a tampon applicator for, like, several weeks." (49:01)
  • Medical neglect: UTI escalated toward life-threatening infection.
  • Psychological torment: Threats, isolation, deliberate separation from Paul, periods of forced silence, and mental games.

    "It was just constant mind...and that's part of what torture is like." (54:24)

• The Pirates: Poverty, Scarcity, and Child Soldiers

  • Encountered child pirates: "He was learning the family business of kidnapping and ransom and he'd already killed three people...We called him Crack Baby." (53:00)
  • Pirates’ motive: “My babies are hungry, and that’s why you’re here. My babies need to eat.” ("Cook," 85:23)

6. Negotiations & Proof of Life

• Delayed communication with the outside world: “It was probably two weeks before we were able to make any contact…” (42:15, 64:28)
• Organization countered $45 million ransom demand with $20,000; negotiations stalled (67:38).
• Proof of life calls and video messages added an additional surreal, terrifying layer: “To think that maybe that’s the last time your family’s going to see you alive…” (68:09)

7. The Rescue: Seal Team Six

• As Jessica’s health deteriorated, a rescue operation was carried out by Seal Team 6 on Day 93 (Jan 25, 2012).
  • The night erupted in automatic gunfire; she struggled to process her rescuers’ words:

    “Jessica, it’s okay. Hey, we’re the American military. You’re safe now. We’re going to take you home.” (75:57)

  • Both she and Paul were airlifted to safety. All nine pirates in the immediate camp were killed.
  • President Obama personally called Jessica’s dad after the rescue. (96:34)
  • The weight of survival:

    "It did—it changed everything about my life. It changed me on a cellular level." (80:09)

8. The Aftermath: Trauma, Healing, and Purpose

• Physical and Emotional Toll

  • Extreme survivor’s guilt and anger—at Paul, the organization that failed to heed clear threats, and loss of a life and career she loved.

• Post-captivity discoveries

  • Inside job: Security advisor Abdul Razak set up the kidnapping (94:41).
  • Unexpected pregnancy a month after rescue, “sent to save” her (92:46, 109:45).

• Mental health struggles

  • Intrusive thoughts, PTSD, triggers:

    "You don’t ever get over it...it's the aftermath that is so grueling." (88:12)

• Healing Process

  • Therapy, community, time ("Time is the only thing. The most valuable thing I've given myself is time." 102:43)
  • Writing and storytelling—book tours, and creation of a publishing business for survivor authors.
  • Emphasis on the universal aspect of trauma and value in sharing stories:

    "Things don’t always happen for a reason, but that doesn’t mean we can’t derive purpose from them.” (111:50)

  • Journey from surviving to truly living and teaching in a new way:

    “I just want to live. And this is what living looks like—not just surviving.” (122:28)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Intuition:
  "It's hard for people to discern what's intrusive and what's intuition...I felt afraid." (14:50, Jessica Buchanan)
• The Moment of Realization:
  “We’re being kidnapped.” (31:45, Paul)
• Surviving the Unimaginable:
  "My mind was on such overload that my body took over and I passed out." (41:32)
• The Dehumanization of Captivity:
  “You’re not... worth nothing. It's that you're only a commodity. So your humanity is completely cast aside.” (63:28)
• On Healing:
  "At some point, it will come get you. You can't outrun it. But that's not my problem." (108:13, on trauma) "You just have to give it time... It’s the only thing.” (102:23) "Things don’t always happen for a reason, but that doesn’t mean we can’t derive purpose from them." (111:49)
• On Recovery and Purpose:
  "It became clear to me that because this trauma had so fundamentally changed me that I no longer fit into the life and the profession... I needed to figure out what to do now." (101:50) "My forgiveness journey hasn't actually ever been about them. It's been about my organization and Paul." (86:57)

Important Timestamps

• Jessica’s Background & Early Aid Work: 00:50 – 13:30
• Lead-Up to Kidnapping/Intuition: 13:30 – 16:10
• Abduction Begins: 23:10
• Life in Captivity/Survival Tactics: 49:01 – 54:30
• Psychological Torture & Mind Games: 54:24 – 62:22
• Proof of Life & Negotiation Details: 64:21 – 68:09
• The Seal Team 6 Rescue: 75:57 – 79:46
• Effects of Trauma and Healing: 80:43 – 102:08
• Reflection on Survival and New Purpose: 110:18 – 122:28

Tone and Language

Jessica’s narration is unfiltered, emotionally honest, and simultaneously hopeful and matter-of-fact. There is frank humor (on eating with a tampon applicator, 49:01), sharp insight into trauma and institutional failure, and profound empathy for herself and others in desperation—including her captors: “At the end of the day, we all just want to survive.” (85:23)

Devorah provides compassionate prompting, holding respectful space for vulnerability, and drawing connections between Jessica’s experience and broader narratives of trauma, coping, and recovery.

Closing Thoughts

Jessica Buchanan’s survival story is both extraordinary and deeply human. Her candor about fear, rage, loss, and the slow, uneven work of healing offers comfort and inspiration—not only to those facing dramatic trauma, but to anyone touched by loss, fear, or transformation.

Jessica’s message: Your story matters, healing is hard, and authenticity in telling and writing about survival can foster both individual and collective recovery.

Recommended next steps:

• Check out Jessica’s books (“Impossible Odds”, “How to Survive Survival”) and her publishing platform for survivors.
• For those interested in sharing their own stories on “We’re All Insane,” links are provided at the top of the episode description.