Henderson gets home for Christmas
Freed jungle hostage Mark Henderson finally made it home for Christmas today.
Mr Henderson, aged 32, flew in from Colombia where he was kidnapped by guerrillas while on a backpacking trip and spent 102 days captive in remote mountain jungles.
After months of tension and worry he was finally released earlier this week.
Today he enjoyed a reunion with his parents, Christopher and Sharelle at Heathrow Airport before facing a press conference to speak of his ordeal.
Mr Henderson, a television producer living in Clapham, south London, has confessed to being, “at breaking point” shortly before his kidnappers agreed to release him, along with four other Israeli hostages, in time for Christmas.
He has lost two stone surviving on rations doled out by his captors while living in hide-outs and marching hundreds of miles through mosquito-infested jungle to evade the Colombian army pursuing their kidnappers, the Marxist rebel group ELN.
Now he will spend Christmas at home in North Yorkshire surrounded by friends and family.
His parents, Christopher, 59, a retired RAF wing commander and mother Sharelle, 57, described his homecoming as the greatest Christmas present ever after they were called by the British Foreign Office on Monday with the news he was free.
Mrs Henderson said simply: “Thank God’s he’s safe. I can smile again. This is the greatest present we could get.
“I can’t believe it. It’s like a dream. I feel sheer joy and just want to speak to him. Now we can really celebrate Christmas.”
Earlier Mark managed a few words with his father by phone as he waited to be flown by helicopter out of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada jungle.
When Christopher said ’Hi’, the 32-year-old TV producer joked: “Three months in the jungle and you say ’Hi’. Is that it?”
Mark spent last night at the British Embassy in the Colombian capital Bogota, after having medical check-ups, before boarding the flight to Britain.
He is reportedly “in good shape” despite his ordeal and is expected to spend Christmas at the family home in Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire, then fly out with his family to meet up with his brother in New Zealand.
He confessed to being worried he had not got his family any Christmas presents.
Mr Henderson, fellow Briton Matthew Scott, 19, a German, a Spaniard and four Israelis were first taken captive by ELN Marxist rebels on September 12.
They were part of a larger group of 15 tourists travelling to the 2,500-year-old Ciudad Perdida ’Lost City’ ruins.
Mr Scott, an Oxford University student from Clapham, south London, made a daring escape bid 11 days later.
He leapt into a ravine as the hostages were force-marched through the jungle and was picked up by the Colombian army after 12 days.
The German, Reinhilt Weige, and Spaniard, Asier Echeverria, were released around three weeks ago.
Mr Scott has said he wants to meet up with Mr Henderson – but decided not to go to Heathrow to allow him time with his family.
The Marxist rebels holding Mr Henderson moved through the jungle to an undisclosed location where the hostages could be picked up safely by those negotiating their release, including representatives of the Catholic Church in Colombia.
