A FRESH START

Callie Strydom had to process a lot of trauma after his hostage drama 25 years ago. But now he's married again - and has finally found peace

- JACQUES MYBURGH

THE memories haunted him for years the sounds at night, the faces of the men with assault rifles, the gnawing hunger, the constant fear.

But he's finally put the nightmare behind him and no longer lives in the past. Today he's firmly in the present, safe and happy with the woman he loves by his side.

We meet Callie Strydom at his home in Durbanville, Cape Town, where a crackling fire is warding off the chill seeping in from the rain-speckled windows.

This is the first time in years Callie (61) has spoken to the media because for a long time he just wanted to be left alone.

"I took the lessons I learnt and lived them out," he says. "There was so much pain over the years I preferred to remain silent and process it myself. People experience and process trauma in different ways. I needed time to think, heal and grow." Callie looks very different to the man with the bushy hair, big beard and sunken eyes who returned home with his thenwife, Monique, after their four-month ordeal on Jolo island in the Philippines in 2000.

The pair had been scuba diving on the island when they were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf militant group and were finally freed after months of negotiations involving the South African authorities.

A lot has happened in the years that followed. Callie and Monique, who were so dependent on each other in the jungle, parted ways eight years ago and he has a whole new life.

Beside him on the couch is Natasha, his second wife, and he has "so much to be grateful for", he says.

"I'm just Callie. People don't even recognise me on the street anymore. I live a quiet, ordinary and happy life." His time on the island has helped put things into perspective, he adds. "Our time in the jungle was tough - we were scared and anxious but there were people around us who had it much worse.