Speaker 1 (00:00):
Cherelle Griner taking to social media for the first time since being reunited with her wife, Brittney Griner.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
She shared this post to Instagram thanking everyone involved in getting Britney home safe, including a wide range of journalists, activists, and politician. After 294 grueling days, 10 months, the Griners were reunited last night in Texas. ABC’s M. Willian has the story.
M. Willian (00:22):
Brittney Griner returned to the US on Friday after being detained in Russia for a harrowing 10 months.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
US Officials who met her on the ground said she was in very good spirits, appears to be in good health.
M. Willian (00:34):
The 32 year old WNBA star reunited privately with her wife, Cherelle and is now receiving medical care at an army medical center in Texas. The process called Reintegration helps Americans detained overseas transition to being back home. It includes physical checkups and access to psychologists.
Speaker 5 (00:50):
The US military has quite a bit of experience with bringing people back, hostages back, people from war zones that have been rescued, and so she’s going to get top flight care.
M. Willian (00:59):
Friends, family, and colleagues overjoyed at Griner’s home coming.
Speaker 6 (01:02):
We’re just so happy to have her back and we really want to lean on her family’s wishes and make sure she’s getting the support she needs and welcoming her back to our community.
Speaker 7 (01:11):
Everyone’s on cloud nine and we are extremely excited and now just worried about her wellbeing.
M. Willian (01:16):
Images from Russian State TV show her life in prison, spending her days carrying fabric because she was too tall to sit at the sewing tables where other prisoners worked. Her bed too small for her 6.4 inch frame. Griner was detained in February for traveling with Hashish oil, a substance band in Russia, sentenced to nine years.
(01:34)
Her release part of a prisoner swap for Victor Boot, a notorious arms dealer imprisoned in the US for about 15 years, not part of the exchange, former Marine Paul Whelan imprisoned in Russia since 2018 on espionage charges that the US says are a sham. US officials say they are still actively working towards Whelan’s release and Russian President Vladimir Putin saying the door is still open for prisoners swaps.