Hi all and welcome back to another episode of
Bloom Talks. I'm your host Tania Bloom. I am
on day, we're on day 10 of my 100 days of growth
for my podcast Bloom Talks. This podcast is a
place where we're going to explore powerful real
life stories. Each episode dives into true inspirational
journeys of people who endure extraordinary circumstances
and come out stronger. Today I am bringing you
the story of Terry Waits. You may have heard
of him before, may not. This all starts in a,
unfortunately in a war zone. So imagine this,
you've traveled to a war zone, you're not a soldier,
you're not a spy, but you're a negotiator trying
to free others. You've gone there unarmed, you've
gone there without protection. You go because
you believe trust can save lives. and then you
disappear. No demands are made, no proof of life,
no certainty that you'll ever be seen again.
This was the reality for Terry Waite. For 1763
days he was held hostage in Lebanon. Much of
that time in total isolation, chained, blindfolded
and completely alone. This is his true story.
Terry Waite was born in 1943 in the North of
England. Now he grew up in a modest circumstances
and later he trained for the ministry. He was
thoughtful, he was disciplined and he was deeply
committed to faith and service. In the 80s, he
became a special envoy for the Archbishop of
Canterbury. His role was unusual. He acted as
a humanitarian negotiator, often working quietly
behind the scenes to help secure the release
of hostages held in conflict zones. He had already
helped negotiate the release of several hostages
in the Middle East, and he was known for one
defying trait. He believed in personal trust.
Now he believed that trust could transcend any
violence. To understand Terry Waite's story you
need to understand Lebanon at the time. In the
1980s, Lebanon was in the grip of a brutal civil
war. Multiple factions operated simultaneously.
You had foreign armies and intelligence agencies.
Westerners were being kidnapped regularly and
there was armed groups aligned with regional
powers. Journalists were being kidnapped, aid
workers, diplomats. These hostages became bargaining
chips in international power struggles. Terry
Waite entered this environment voluntarily and
of course he went there because he wanted to
help free these people. In January 1987, Terry
Waite traveled to Beirut. His goal was to help
secure the release of those four Western hostages.
He believed they were being held by Islamic Jihad,
a group linked to this ongoing war. Waite believed
that he had received assurance that his safety
would be respected. he decided not to obviously
carry any weapons, he didn't have any security,
he just relied entirely on that trust. On January
20th 1987, Terry Waite went to meet them and
he never returned. He was abducted. Just imagine
that moment for a second, he's gone out there
to meet these people, he stepped into a car expecting
a conversation and instead He's blindfolded,
hands bound, driven for hours. When the blindfold
is finally removed, he found himself in a room
that he did not recognize. And for that moment
on, Terry Waite ceased to exist as a free man.
He was held hostage, not for days, not for weeks,
but for nearly five years. Most of Terry Waite's
captivity was spent in solitary confinement.
He was often kept in small rooms or cells, chained
by the ankles and frequently blindfolded. They
would move in between locations and he was denied
contact with other hostages for long periods
of time. At times he was chained up for 24 hours
of the day. He was allowed very minimal movement.
Food was sparse and monotonous. Medical care
was almost non -existent, and there was long
stretches where no one spoke to him. Now, imagine
this. You've got days without sound, weeks without
human contact, and months without knowing if
the world remembers you. Psychologically, this
is devastating. Terry Way later said that the
greatest challenges was maintaining sanity. Without
books, without materials or conversations, Terry
Waite turned inward and he developed a strict
mental routine. He would recite poetry from memory,
reconstruct books he had read and create imaginary
lectures. He would replay memories in detail
and he could, well, he would do some exercise,
obviously in the constraint and that confinement
of that space. This was just to keep his body
functioning. He prayed and he marked time by
changing changes of light and sound. He later
said that faith did not remove fear, but it gave
him structure. Importantly, Terry Waite did not
know why he'd even been taken. What was being
demanded or If he would ever be released he was
not tortured but the isolation itself was of
course a form of torture. Outside the cell years
went by. Terry Wade became one of the longest
held British hostages in history. His wife and
children campaigned tirelessly for his release
and government did try to negotiate but unfortunately
deals failed. At times it appeared that Terry
Waite had been forgotten. Inside that cell he
prepared himself for the possibility of death.
But he also prepared himself to live on. In November
1991, after complex international negotiations
tied to the end of that Lebanese civil war, Terry
Waite was finally released. He had been held
captive for 1 ,763 days. He was physically weakened,
but alive. He returned to Britain to an emotional
public perception, but freedom did not mean the
end of captivity. Terry Waite suffered long -term
physical and psychological effects. Chronical
pain, difficulty sleeping, lingering trauma from
isolation. He did not retreat from the world,
but instead he turned his experience into advocacy.
He founded Hostage UK, supporting former hostages
and their families. He wrote his memoirs, Taken
on Trust, detailing the reality of captivity.
He continued humanitarian work, visiting prisons,
conflict zones, and speaking openly about the
human cost of war and he became a powerful voice
for prisoner prison reform hostage welfare and
human dignity. Terry Wait's story is not inspirational
because because of heroism it's inspirational
because of endurance he survived that five years
in captivity prolonged solitary confinement physical
restraint and psychological isolation and he
emerged without bitterness. He refused revenge,
instead he chose service. His story reminds us
that truth is risky but necessary. That isolation
can be survived and that dignity can endure even
when freedom is stripped away. This is not a
tale of politics. This is the true story of Terry
White. Wait. It is a testament to resilience,
faith and the quiet strength of the human spirit.
Thank you so much for listening and joining us
again today on Bloom Talks. If you enjoyed this
episode, be sure to subscribe and join us next
time for another incredible journey. Until then,
stay safe. Keep growing and take care.