D Tuesday, October 20, 2009 METRO BY ROSS McDONAGH The fear of being shot was a constant threat SHARON COmmiNS spoke for the first time of her relief yesterday after finally being re- leased from her 107-day hostage ordeal. Speaking on RT radio, ms Commins de- scribed how she and her Ugandan colleague Hilda Kawuki were petrified the night three armed men burst into their compound, held guns to their heads and ordered them into the back of a van. Up to 18 armed men then held them captive and intimidated them. There were mock assassinations on a few oc- casions so it was extremely scary and we were always anxious and stressed and upset until the minute we got out, said ms Commins. Wed be told to kneel on our knees and they would shoot around us. Obviously, the first time that happened we thought we were actually going to be shot and There were mock assassinations... it was extremely scary We were still happy to be alive but extremely fearful Relief: Ms Commins yesterday said she was subjected to mock executions Picture: AP each time wed think, OK, i hope its a mock, but you do never know. it was an extremely dangerous situation to be in. She said they lived in difficult conditions and were held on four different mountain ranges where they were exposed to all the elements. They sheltered from the sun under two blan- kets, which they also used at night to cover them. They were given two meals a day, had very little water and could wash themselves only every two weeks. The aid worker said they still feared the armed gang, who wanted a ransom, despite being en- couraged that they were being kept alive. The flip side of that coin is that they were get- ting increasingly frustrated that they were pay- ing money to feed us and they were getting more frustrated by the day, she said, from the Suda- nese capital Khartoum. We were still happy to be alive but extremely fearful. We were never confident that we would be kept alive. The fear of being shot was a con- stant threat. irelands Department of Foreign Affairs said it did not pay a ransom to end the captivity un- derstood to be one of the longest-running of any foreign aid staff in the region. ms Commins said they initially did not believe they were being released as they had been given false hope so many times before. The moment i knew i was free was when i got into a familiar car and there was no gun and people said Welcome home. You girls did well, she said. The road we were on was still dangerous and we were still not out of harms way until we got to the safe house and then there was a moment of joy. Then we talked to our families. it took a few minutes to sink in. it took us a while to get our heads around. ms Commins, who thanked the public for all the support given to her and her family in Clon- tarf, said she was relieved to be coming home and spending time with her family and friends. im definitely not going to work until well af- ter Christmas, she said. President mary mcAleese will host a recep- tion to mark ms Comminss safe return at ras an Uachtarin on Thursday. Last night, it was also announced that ms Commins and ms Kawuki will be awarded the first Hugh OFlaherty international Human- itarian Award in Killarney on Saturday Novem- ber 7. Last year monsignor Hugh OFlaherty (1898- 1963) was awarded a posthumous Killarney in- ternational Humanitarian Award in recognition of his selfless work in italy during World War ii which saved the lives of more than 6,500 peo- ple. it was then decided it would be an annual award and re-named in honour of the monsig- nor; with several irish NGOs nominating the Goal aid workers. Comhlmh, which represents irish aid work- ers, said it was overwhelmed with relief and joy at the safe release of the women. Spokeswoman Deirdre Kettlewell said: We salute the tremendous courage shown by these two brave humanitarian aid workers during their horrendous ordeal that thankfully is now over. Together with the families, friends and co- workers of both Hilda and Sharon, we are abso- lutely delighted at their safe release and we look forward to welcoming Sharon back to Dublin. We salute the tremendous courage shown by these two index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html