Brittney Griner, a WNBA legend, claims she had a desire to commit suicide when she was first imprisoned in Russia.
In an appointment with ABC’s Robin Roberts that aired on Wednesday, days before the launch of her memoir , Coming Home, Griner describes the physical and emotional turmoil she experienced after being detained by Russian regulators in 2022 for attempting to go with a marijuana-infused smoke bullet in her bag.
In the first week, I felt like leaving this place so badly because I wanted to take my existence more than once, Griner said to Roberts.
When Brittney Griner was detained by Russian norms safety, she sent a storm of worried text information to her family, Cherelle Griner, to get the word out. Cherelle recalled reading the messages, describing it as” the most alarming thing I’ve ever experienced”. # BrittneyGrinerOnABC image twitter.com/vLe3edGK0j
— 20/20 ( @ABC2020 ) May 2, 2024
The WNBA star continued, claiming that one of the reasons she did n’t kill herself was because she feared that Russian authorities would n’t give her body back to her family.
Brittney Griner’s account of her detention in Russia was personal. photograph. twitter.com/3xXE2Sozm I
— ESPN ( @espn ) May 2, 2024
Griner described the problems of her prison,” The bed had a large heart stain on it.” ” They give you these narrow two sheets, so you’re essentially laying on restaurants. In prison, you do n’t really want to stick your leg and arms through bars because someone will grab it, twist it, break it, and that’s what was going through my mind. That’s what happened.
Brittney Griner has her Bible and extra-long pajamas trousers out of her property for the first time since her return, which she claims had a profound impact on her while she was imprisoned in Russia. # BrittneyGrinerOnABC image twitter.com/CY5VTRMhhY
— 20/20 ( @ABC2020 ) May 2, 2024
Griner goes on to describe being given solely one roll of toilet paper for a fortnight and being given mouthwash that had already expired, causing mold to develop on the prison walls.
Griner received assistance from an inmate she calls Alana, who helped her through the darker days while she was imprisoned. And they would wane before things improved. The climate got so bad that she had to reduce her dreads to avoid them from freezing that she was transferred to an IK- 2 jail.
” We had spider above my base making homes”, Griner explained. ” My curls started to freeze. They simply continued to be sweaty and cold, and I was becoming too ill. You gotta accomplish what you gotta do to live”.
Brittney and Cherelle Griner, who are expecting their first child this summer, say they have a new purpose in their own life by sharing the information they hope to share with them:” Often keep their heads high and move with joy.” # BrittneyGrinerOnABC image twitter.com/o4ISkQbxIY
— 20/20 ( @ABC2020 ) May 2, 2024
Griner was released in December 2022 in trade for Russian arms trader Viktor Bout despite serving a nine-year sentence in a Russian jail. Griner had hoped that another National imprisoned in Russia, erstwhile Marine Paul Whelan, would also be released.
Paul Whelan, a former U.S. sea accused of spying and detained in Russia in December 2018, is awaiting his sentencing hearing in Moscow on June 15, 2020. ( Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP ) (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images )
She describes how shocked she was when she realized Whelan was n’t on the plane when she boarded it.
” I walked on and did n’t see him, maybe he’s next. Sometimes they will send him future”, she said. ” They closed the door, and I was like, are you serious? You wo n’t allow this man to return home right away.
Griner has urged American authorities to do everything in their power to rescue Whelan.
