462 Days: Kidnapped in Somalia P6

Summary

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Podcast Summary:

What I Survived – Episode: 462 Days: Kidnapped in Somalia P6
Host: Jack Laurence
Date: April 28, 2026

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Episode Overview

In the gripping final chapter of their 15-month ordeal, journalist Nigel Browning and photojournalist Amanda Lindhout recount the chaotic, bewildering, and emotional process of being released after 462 days of captivity in Somalia. The episode explores not only the moment of freedom but the profound challenges of reentering the world, healing from trauma, and rebuilding life once forever changed by extreme survival. Through Nigel’s vivid storytelling and honest reflections, listeners gain rare insight into the aftershocks of freedom, the complexities of adjustment, and the ongoing journey toward recovery.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Myth of Freedom as an ‘Ending’ ([02:11])

• Narrator opens with a powerful reflection: The story doesn’t end when the doors open and freedom is regained. True survival begins with the transition back to normal life, which can be as overwhelming and challenging as captivity itself.
• Quote:
  • “Freedom is not a destination. It's the beginning of a road that nobody warned you about.” — Narrator ([02:44])

2. The Chaotic Release: Details and Anxiety ([04:43] - [13:18])

• Being Let Go: Nigel and Amanda are suddenly told to change clothes, relinquish belongings (including Nigel’s cherished Quran), and are frog-marched into vehicles with little information.
  • Quote:
    • “So they're now using the keys. And obviously because I've been showering and stuff like that, the padlocks have rusted solid... I'm given a new singlet, a new shirt, a pair of... clown pants... I need a belt!” — Nigel ([04:48])
• Negotiation of ‘Promises’: At a petrol station, Ahmed (a captor) makes them sign a document agreeing to five promises before continuing.
• Tension and Confusion: Transferred between cars, surrounded by new armed groups — panic and paranoia as to who is holding them now.
  • Quote:
    • “Oh, my God, we just ran into another ambush. Like, is this now Al Shabaab?” — Nigel ([10:15])
• Realization of Freedom: Somali officials reassure them of their release and connect Amanda with her mother; the emotion is juxtaposed with confusion and lingering fear.
• Media Frenzy and the Simple Joys of Normalcy: Amid a flurry of media requests, Nigel’s first acts of freedom are asking for “a Coke and a cigarette.” ([13:18])
  • Quote:
    • “I haven't smoked for over years and I smoked, it was like, oh my God, that's disgusting. But it was just like, fuck that, I'm going to do something that I haven't been able to do for so long.” — Nigel ([13:18])

3. The Danger Persists: Extraction and Emotional Release ([15:14] - [18:01])

• Nigel’s sister warns them the hotel is unsafe due to a recent kidnapping; they must wait overnight for extraction.
• The next morning, ex-SAS operatives arrive, greeting Nigel with humor and familiarity, highlighting the role of camaraderie in easing trauma.
  • Quote:
    • “He goes, 'Mate, your sister tells me you like sport. Hasn't been a good year for you, you sheep shaggers.'” — Rescuer to Nigel ([17:10])
• The emotional weight of reconnection and the relief of being with someone who knew his family almost leads Nigel to breakdown.

4. Officialdom, Escape, and First Steps Home ([18:01] - [20:54])

• Presidential and Prime Ministerial Meetings: Before leaving, Nigel and Amanda must attend brief, surreal meetings with Somali dignitaries, with media present — further delaying their freedom.
• Final Sprint to Safety: Finally flown out of Somalia amid a media chase, Nigel is overwhelmed by a care package of clothes and letters from his family, bursting into tears mid-flight.
• Arriving in Nairobi: Medical checks, debriefs with authorities, and reunion with Amanda before returning home to Australia just before Christmas 2009.

5. Coming Home: Joy, Guilt, and the Path to Recovery ([20:54] - [26:36])

• Raw Emotions: At home, Nigel makes a public statement, expressing gratitude, guilt over the pain caused his family, and special thanks to Amanda for her companionship during captivity.
  • Quote:
    • “I want to thank my family for never giving up or giving in to my captors’ demands... To my good friend and colleague Amanda Lindhout, thank you for the support, friendship and love that you gave me through this ordeal.” — Nigel (post-ordeal statement) ([20:54])
• Adrenaline Crash: Nigel describes being propelled by adrenaline and a “lust for life” but admits, guided by psychologists, that a crash is inevitable and recovery is ongoing.
• Purpose & Healing: He details his work with psychologists and his path to giving back — working on other kidnapping cases, public speaking on trauma and resilience, and the fundamental lesson that family, friends, and community are of most value in life.
  • Quote:
    • “Money allows you to do things, it doesn't enrich your life. The thing that is really important is your family and friends and being part of a community, because without those, you have nothing...” — Nigel ([25:50])

6. Relationships After Trauma ([26:36] - [27:56])

• Nigel reflects on his and Amanda’s relationship: though close during captivity, they have not spoken in over ten years, a consequence of shared trauma and the different paths recovery can take.
  • Quote:
    • “I haven’t spoken to Amanda for over 10 years… I'm incredibly grateful to her, love that she showed during captivity and the support that she gave me. So, you know, I can never thank her enough…” — Nigel ([26:50])

7. Lasting Impact ([27:56])

• The episode closes with the recognition that, while Nigel and Amanda’s ordeal was extraordinary, less dramatic but nonetheless profound trauma can affect anyone, and the scars — physical and psychological — require everyday work to heal.
• Preview of the next episode: another survivor’s story, this time of a pilot facing a life-or-death fire in the cockpit.

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “Freedom is not a destination. It's the beginning of a road that nobody warned you about.” — Narrator ([02:44])
• “Abdullah, my pants are falling down. I need a belt.” — Nigel ([04:48])
• “We just ran into another ambush. Like, is this now Al Shabaab?” — Nigel ([10:15])
• “I haven't smoked for over years and I smoked, it was like, oh my God, that's disgusting. But it was just like, fuck that I'm going to do something that I haven't been able to do for so long.” — Nigel ([13:18])
• “I want to thank my family for never giving up or giving in to my captors’ demands... To my good friend and colleague Amanda Lindhout, thank you for the support, friendship and love that you gave me through this ordeal.” — Nigel ([20:54])
• “Money allows you to do things, it doesn't enrich your life… The thing that is really important in life is your family and your friends and being part of a community, because without those, you have nothing.” — Nigel ([25:50])
• “I haven’t spoken to Amanda for over 10 years… I'm incredibly grateful to her, love that she showed during captivity and the support that she gave me.” — Nigel ([26:50])

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Key Timestamps

• 02:11 — The myth of a “happy ending” at freedom; reality of post-captivity adjustment
• 04:43 — Forced preparations and confusion in the final moments of captivity
• 07:03 — The surreal journey toward release; anxiety and uncertainty
• 10:13 — Encounter with new armed groups, more confusion and fear
• 13:18 — First “normal” acts post-captivity: Coke and a cigarette
• 15:14 — Extraction drama; media exposure and security risks
• 17:10 — Humor and emotional release upon meeting rescuers
• 18:01 — Meetings with Somali leaders and the logistics of leaving
• 20:54 — Nigel’s post-ordeal public statement, gratitude, and guilt
• 23:45 — Reflections with host: psychological impact, “adrenaline” period, and real work of recovery
• 26:50 — Reflection on loss of contact with Amanda and the effects of shared trauma

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Tone and Style

The episode remains conversational but raw, alternating between harrowing immediacy (Nigel’s first-hand account) and thoughtful reflection (host’s narration). Humor and vulnerability surface in equal measure, underscoring both the absurdity and gravity of extreme survival and its aftermath. The host and Nigel openly confront difficult truths: that freedom is complex, healing is non-linear, and only sustained support and community can foster recovery after trauma.

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This summary captures the scope and emotion of the episode, providing an accessible entry for new listeners while preserving the most powerful details and quotes in the speakers’ own words.

Transcript

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[Nigel Browning]

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[Narrator / Interviewer]

There's a version of this story that ends the moment doors open, the ransom is paid, the car stops, and two people who've spent 462 days in captivity step out into the air of a country that has been tearing itself apart around them. And they're free. The nightmare is over. Right? Roll credits Everyone goes home. That's a version most of us instinctively reach for. It's the movie version, the one that feels complete, the one where freedom is the full stop at the end of the sentence. But freedom is not a destination. It's the beginning of a road that nobody warned you about. Freedom almost always brings a sense of elation and relief. However, adjusting back to the real world after being held hostage can be just as difficult as abruptly leaving it. Upon release. Many hostage survivors are faced with transitioning from conditions of isolation and helplessness to a sense of overload and freedom, a transition that often results in significant adjustment difficulties. Think about what Nigel and Amanda were stepping back into, a world that had continued without them for over a year. Families who had been changed by the experience themselves. Hostages who have been in captivity for prolonged periods can sometimes experience personality changes after such a traumatic period. And the families themselves have changed. They have lived through their own version of this experience, their own 462 days of not knowing, of negotiating with terrorists, of selling things, of being told nothing by governments that were supposed to help them and then apparently didn't. It can take time to rebuild these personal bonds, and everyone affected will need support to readjust and recalibrate their relationships. It is certainly not something that can be fixed quickly. This is the final chapter of Nigel and Amanda's story, the one that doesn't end when the doors open, the one that asks after everything. What does coming home actually mean?

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[Narrator / Interviewer]

Chapter 12. The President wants to meet Nigel and Amanda.

[Nigel Browning]

They were trying to undo the padlocks, which in 11 months, I'd had them off for an hour and 11 months. So they're now using the keys. And obviously because I've been showering and stuff like that, the padlocks have rusted solid. So they then go and find a hacksaw and are chopping through these padlocks, and then they've got a block of wood, and they're like, trying to hit the padlock, and it's like, well, that's hitting my leg, dude. It's like, abdullah, what's going on? He's like, no talking. And they finally get the padlocks off, the chains come off, and Abdullah says, take all your clothes off. It's like, why? And he's like, take the clothes off, put those clothes on. And I'm given a new singlet, a new shirt, a pair of like. I'm a size 32. They must be like a size 64 pants. I literally put them on and let them go and they fall down. It's like clown pants. And I'm like, abdullah, I need a belt. And he's like, nah, you can't have your belt. And I'm like, abdullah, what's going on? He's like, stop talking. I'm like, abdullah, my pants are falling down. Like, I need a belt. So he gives me my belt. By this stage, too, I'd been sort of keeping a clandestine diary of just key events, phone numbers that I seen on mobile phones and those sorts of things. And I'd hidden it all in the back of my shoe, so where the heel had sort of rubbed over time and it created a little hole. So I'd basically been hiding notes in my shoe. And it's like, abdullah, I need my shoes. He's like, nah, you can't have your shoes. It's like, I need my shoes. It's like, what am I meant to walk? Like, where, where are we going? And then I was like, abdullah, I need my Quran. And he's like, you can't have your Quran. It's like, abdullah, that is the first Quran I've ever had. This is the introduction of me to the religion of Islam that's really important to me, is that you can't have it again.

[Narrator / Interviewer]

Nigel's persistence for his Quran had nothing to do with religious beliefs, but everything to do with where he might be going. That small book had given him so much over the last 15 months. And if they were about to go from the frying pan into the Al Shabaab fire, he needed that safety blanket.

[Nigel Browning]

I'm pretty much frog marched out to the car. Amanda's out in this courtyard. They're doing exactly the same thing to her, cutting off her padlocks and stuff. She then goes into a room, gets changed, comes out and she sits next to me in the vehicle. So no more chains. We're able to actually hold hands. And we're like, what's going on? She's like, I have no idea. Like, they haven't told me. They tell us not to talk. The guys get in with us, we reverse the car out of the compound. We drive down the road a few minutes. We pull up at a petrol station and Ahmed is there and he comes up to the window and he says, you Both agreed on five promises. Do you still agree to keep those promises? Yeah, of course. What's going on? He's like, everything's okay, but I need you to sign this document with the five promises on them with your name. It's just like, yeah, where's the pen? I'll sign it. There you go. Do you want me to date it as well and postmark it? But I'm like, ahmed, where is my crayon? Like, I want my crown. He's like, I don't know where your crown is. And then we drive. He's the front car. We drive for a period of time. So it's getting darker. We pick up a third car. So we're now in sort of convoy again, like, the first day, we sort of driving through little villages and then out into the bush and then back into villages. We come to a stop pretty much in the middle of nowhere. And then another car pulls up like a low station wagon. And we're told to get out of the vehicle and get into this car. And there's two guys in the car. One of them turns around and says, name and country. And I'm like, nigel Browning, Australia. Same to Amanda. Amanda Linda, Canada. He gets on the phone, makes a phone call, talks in Somali, and we're like, what the fuck is happening? What is. What is this? All the kidnappers. Our kidnappers are outside of the vehicle. The guy in the driving seat's like, don't talk. And just before we leave, the car, door opens on my side, and Abdullah throws my Quran on my lap. And I'm just like, oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Because I'm not sure what's about to happen. And we drive off, and we leave our hostage takers behind. We drive down this dirt road for a short period. We hit a bitumen road, like a Turner section. We turn left, and the guy just accelerates and takes off. And. And we're sort of in the back. Dude, slow down. What's going on? And we're driving. And then out of nowhere, two Toyota Land Cruiser traybacks basically cut across the road with.50 cal guns on the back of them. And we come to a screeching halt. And then out of nowhere, 50 guys, it feels like about 50 guys in civilian clothing with AK47 surround us.

[Narrator / Interviewer]

It's like, it's all happening again.

[Nigel Browning]

Yeah. It's like, oh, my God, we just ran into another ambush. Like, is this now Al Shabaab? Cause it doesn't look like military. And then another Toyota Land Cruiser pulls Up. We're pulled out of the vehicle. We're in. Put into that. And then there's a guy in the front seat who's like, why are you so hysterical? He's like, you're free. You've been released. And my thought. I don't know if I said this, but it was just like, where are the white people? It's like, everyone here is Somalian. I don't feel comfortable. And he's like, no, you're free. You've been released. He said, I'm from the Somalian government. And then he pulled a phone out of his pocket and dialed a number and gave it to Amanda. And Amanda was then on a phone to her mum, and her mum said, we finally negotiated a price, and there's an extraction team waiting for you at the Mogadishu airport to. To bring you back to Nairobi. So it was. It was surreal. Like, as we're driving back into Mogadishu to the place where we had dumped our security detail 460 days earlier, it's like, that's where we stopped, near the Mogadishu airport. And the MP was like, your memory's very good. And then we drive down. I said, and down that road is where we went to one of the feeding stations. And we drove further. And I said, that's the road that Shamma Hotel's on. He's like, my God, your sense of direction is unbelievable. So we're driving. We're now back in Mogadishu, and we got to K4, which is quite a famous landmark in Mogadishu. It's a big roundabout, so it's 4km from the airport. And the cars stop, and everyone's sort of got out of the vehicle, apart from Amanda and I. We're like, what's going on? And then just bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. Just like bullets flying. And then they're like, get out of the car. Get out of the car. So we jump out of the car, and they're like, run to that gate. And we literally run to this gate, and we run through, and it's a hotel, and there are people sitting in this courtyard smoking and drinking tea. And we're just like, what the is this? Like, we're then ushered into a back room, and they're. You know, people are like, are you okay? What happened? You know, obviously asking questions. And then someone walks in. It's just like, you know, New York Times or BBC want to speak to you. And it's just like, I don't want to speak to anyone. They're like, what do you want? It's like, can I have a Coke and a cigarette? I haven't smoked for over years and I smoked, it was like, oh my God, that's disgusting. But it was just like, fuck that I'm going to do something that I haven't been able to do for so long.

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[Nigel Browning]

I'll send you text America's best Network based on RootMetric's best overall mobile network performance US 2nd half 20254 new lines on a limited welcome and auto pay. See verizon.com for details.

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[Nigel Browning]

My sister rang a few hours later and Amanda had done a live cross with the media organization and explained exactly what hotel we were in Mogadishu and my sister rang and said can you two shut the fuck up? And it's just like, what? So I haven't spoken to anyone. She's like, so it's just gone out on the wire that you're staying in this hotel in Mogadishu. She said, I don't want to freak you out, but two French guys were kidnapped from there, like literally two months ago. And she said, the extraction team can't get to you until tomorrow morning, so you're gonna have to basically chill for another 12 hours before they get there.

[Narrator / Interviewer]

And

[Nigel Browning]

managed to get a little bit of sleep that night. So we were given separate rooms and we spent most of the night together just talking and managed to get a couple of hours sleep. And then the next morning, the extraction team rocked up. So two big burly SAS guys, one Zimbabwean and one was a Kiwi, Sean, who, he came up, he goes, gave me a massive hug. He goes, jesus, nice to meet you, Nige. I was nice to meet you too, mate. He goes, good can of Fosters for you in the plane, bruhs.

[Narrator / Interviewer]

So for all of our non Australian and Kiwi listeners, you may not quite get the joke, but forever and a day, Foster's the Beer has been advertised globally as the one true love of all Australians. The slogan, he who drinks Australian thinks Australian was coined by the company who used fictional movie character Crocodile Dundee as their poster boy for what would become an incredibly successful overseas marketing campaign. However, and I don't want to burst anyone's bubble here, and of course, no offence to our friends at Foster's, but none of us drink the stuff.

[Nigel Browning]

It's like, fuck you. And he goes, mate, your sister tells me you like sport. Hasn't been a good year for you, you sheep shaggers. Just. He was like, mate, your sister can drink. And I was just like, you know my sister. He's like, yeah, man, I've spent the last, like, month with your sister in Nairobi. It was like just this emotional, complete emotional sort of release. Almost like I could have had a breakdown. But I was so happy to be with someone who had such a close link with my family.

[Narrator / Interviewer]

Their incredible 15 month ordeal was finally over. Well, almost.

[Nigel Browning]

They were like, right, let's get to the airport. And then someone's like, oh, the President wants to meet Nigel and Amanda. So we're then driven to Villa Somalia. You know, we're sitting there waiting for hours and Sean and Ed are just like, this is ridiculous. Like, what are we doing? And then finally we meet the President and there's a whole crew of media there and they're all talking in Somali and then they're like, would you guys like to say anything? And it's just like, thank you. I guess, like, I've got no idea what you've just said. So we've gone out of that and then they're like, oh, the Prime Minister now wants to meet them. And after about an hour Ed and Sean said, we're getting in the car, we're going. And drove literally back to the airport, went through a side gate where a little seven seater Cessna was, was waiting for us with another ex former SAS who was the pilot. And we were very quickly bundled into that and you know, as we were starting to taxi, the media was basically running towards us trying to get photos of the plane and stuff and straight onto the Runway and took off. And then Ed's like, mate, in the back there, there's a bag for you. So I pulled out this bag and it had some clothes, had some lollies from Australia and it had letters from my nieces and, and nephews and stuff like that. I just started reading and fucking burst into tears. And we landed just across the border in Kenya. And I can remember flying down the coastline and just thinking, Somalia is such a beautiful country. Like it is so built for tourism with such pristine sort of beach lines and surfing and stuff like that and it's just a basket case. It's such a sad thing. But managed to fly into Wadjea airport, went through customs, obviously had to take all of our clothes off for forensics, then back on the plane and then flew into Nairobi and then taken to pretty much they had two dummy ambulances waiting which the media sort of chased. And then we had the Australian and Canadian consulate cars that they put us in to take us to the Aga Khan Hospital where we sort of spent five days going through a lot of medical tests and starting the debrief with ADF psychologists for myself and with the afp. Basically just trying to give them as much information as I could about the kidnappers and all that sort of stuff. And then spending time with Amanda. So pretty much had 10 days in Nairobi before I felt sort of comfortable then to jump on a plane and fly back to Australia just before Christmas in 2009.

[Nigel Browning (Post-Ordeal Statement)]

It feels so good to be home. It's hard to believe I'm standing here safe on Australian soil. I must confess, there were times when I wondered if this moment would ever come. After my experience, I just feel so fortunate to come for a country where freedom is taken for granted. In hindsight, it was a risk I maybe shouldn't have taken. And I'm personally distressed at the grief and heartache I've caused, but my motives were honourable. Firstly, I need to say sorry to my family, especially mum and dad, for the stress and hurt I've caused them over the last 15 months. I'm sure at times their pain and suffering was much worse than than my own. At least I knew I was alive, although sometimes even I questioned that. I want to thank my family for never giving up or giving in to my captors demands. I'm truly overwhelmed by their love and support and I'm so very fortunate to have the family that I do finally. To my good friend and colleague Amanda Lintout, thank you for the support, friendship and love that you gave me through this ordeal. Even though for the most part we were completely isolated from each other, just knowing you were through the wall or down the corridor was an unbelievable comfort. You helped me get through the ups and downs of each day and I couldn't have done it without you. Since coming home on Sunday, I've caught up with mum and dad and enjoyed some time with my brother Matt and sister in law Kel and their kids. Simple things like swimming in the pool and throwing the kids around has been fantastic. I find I'm still trying to come to terms with the enormity of it all. I still have a way to go. That's why I'd be very grateful if everyone gave me a bit of space and some time to get better again. Thanks to everyone and thanks for coming here this morning.

[Narrator / Interviewer]

I mean, you know, you've been through one an ordeal that very few people come out of alive it's fair to say. Yes, you've had one of extremely traumatic experience being held captive for, for over a year, beaten all the rest of it. And then I, even after that this whole sort of like go meeting presidents and rushing out and going to this and going there and debrief from the ADF and all this going on and at some point you obviously come home reunited with your family again. That would be emotional a lot going through that and sort of stuff. At what point do you. Because again you're probably running on so much adrenaline through all of that. At some point did you crash?

[Nigel Browning]

Look, I don't think probably crashed from exhaustion. I think because I was running so quickly and that was one thing the psychologist, I had a great psychologist from the Australian Defense Force sort of debriefed me for 10 days and he just said look, you will have this lust for life and you'll struggle to say no to people and he said, that will catch up with you eventually, because you can't just run at a million miles an hour because you have basically been living on Adrenaline for 460 days and at some point you'll crash. But was it a crash? I don't know. Like, there were things that sort of happened later on with my recovery, but for me, also, coming home, I was so happy. I was so excited to have my life back. And I was very aware that if I came home and had a pity party, my family wouldn't have appreciated that. So it would have been like, suck it up, princess, and have a teaspoon of cement. And for me, it was. It was like, I have an option. Like, I have two options. I can either flourish or I can, or I can wilt. And yes, I've lost 15 months of my life and I don't want to lose any more of it. But I'm aware that I need to do some work in regards to my mental health and get that back to a place where I feel like I can rejoin society. And, you know, I did a ton of work with, with psychologists. I was incredibly lucky to have a fantastic old colleagues from, from the Bundaberg Newsmail who put me in contact with the head of mental health services at Bundy Hospital, who then put me in contact with an amazing GP who still looks after my mum and dad and my brother and my sister, and just put me on this road to recovery, which was great. And for me, it was. It was horrific going through it. But the good things that have come out of such an extreme thing, I'm blessed by as well, to have worked as an extortion response consultant, where I've worked on other people's kidnapping cases or Australians who have been illegally detained overseas, those sorts of things. Where I've been able to give something back has been great. You know, to work as a public speaker and talk at conferences about resilience and trauma and accountability and things that I've learned about myself by going through that, you know, trying to be less judgmental, trying to be more understanding and more empathetic and having an understanding that what is really important in life, like, yes, money allows you to do things, it doesn't enrich your life. The thing that is really important in life is your family and your friends and being part of a community, because without those, you have nothing. And when you have nothing, it is the worst place in the world to be.

[Narrator / Interviewer]

And what of Amanda? Well, she of course, too returned home and has gone through her own journey of Healing and incredible work. Since their ordeal, however, her and Nigel have not spoken in a very long time.

[Nigel Browning]

My psychologist in Nairobi just said, look, I can see that you guys are incredibly close because you have this shared experience. He said, I just want to give you just a heads up that your relationship may crumble after a period of time of, you know, when you get home and you obviously learn more of what your family's gone through and that sort of stuff. And he said, if I can give you an example, he said, husband and wife lose a child, generally, they will end up divorcing because they are reminded of that trauma constantly. And he said, so you may find yourself in a similar, similar situation. But look, saying that I haven't spoken to Amanda for over 10 years, I am incredibly grateful to her, love that she showed during captivity and the support that she gave me. So, you know, I can never thank her enough for what she did while we were in captivity. And, you know, she's done some amazing things since as well, so kudos to her.

[Narrator / Interviewer]

Nigel and Amanda's ordeal lasted 15 months. It was terrifying, unpredictable, and almost certainly life changing, carrying with them the mental scars that they would work on every day for the rest of their lives. However, not everybody needs to face such long exposure to danger to walk away with lasting scars. As I made my final turn into wind now towards the active Runway below. But in the distance, the fire breached the cockpit internally. Deary me, and I'm really having to think on my feet. Former soldier Jamie hull would face 45 seconds of terror thousands of feet in the air when the plane he was piloting caught fire. And the fire, I kid you not, was about halfway up within the small chamber of the cockpit. Bloody hell. So I'm like, jesus. I'm like, I've got to get this aircraft down. As he was quite literally being burned alive, he had seconds to react, get the plane on the ground and save his life. And that was when the pain washed over me head to toe. Every sort of, like, nerve ending, if you will, just shot to pieces. But the pain was literally off the charts. Next time on what I survived.

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[Nigel Browning]

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