Brittney Griner says that while locked in a prison cell in Russia, she thought about dying by suicide several times.
The WNBA superstar told ABC News Robin Roberts on a long interview which aired on Wednesday night, thoughts popped into his mind shortly after Russian authorities threw her behind bars for packing vape cartridges in his luggage at a Moscow airport in February 2022.
“I wanted to take my life more than once in the first few weeks,” Griner said. “I felt so wanted to get out of here.”
ABC
The 33-year-old woman told Roberts, however, that she didn’t go through with it… out of fear that her body wouldn’t be released to her family.
“I can’t put them through this,” she said. “I have to bear this.”
Griner said that while incarcerated, she faced terrible living conditions… explaining to Roberts that her mattress had a large blood stain on it – and there was little toilet paper and no soap in the bathrooms.
She added that at one point, Russian authorities sent her a letter asking for forgiveness and “thanks to your so-called great leader.” Vladimir Putin.
“I didn’t want to do this,” she said, “but at the same time, I want to go home.”
As you know, Griner was sentenced to nine years in Russian prison on drug charges in August 2022… after a long trial. She was eventually sent to a penal colony in Mordovia – where she was forced to work and cut cloth for military personnel.
In December 2022, however, the US agreed to send convicted arms traffickers to Russia Viktor Batalha in exchange for Griner’s release.
08/12/22
TASS
Griner told Roberts that she dealt with the guilt over it all … saying she felt like she “let everyone down.”
But since touching back In the United States, Griner became an advocate for those unjustly detained abroad. She is also expecting her first child with her wife, Cherelle.
As for her basketball career, she is still going strong in the WNBA, preparing to begin another season with the Phoenix Mercury later this month.
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