Family’s words kept her alive

INGRID BETANCOURT began each day in captivity at 4am — cold and depressed, but awake in the dark waiting to hear her mother’s words of encouragement over the radio.

She was haunted by thoughts of suicide and fears she would be killed.

Often chained to a tree by the neck in secret jungle camps that were infested by insects and thick with mud, she lost her appetite. If she ate, she would likely vomit.