Yvonne Bornstein

It took twelve years to get past the emotional and physical trauma of being kidnapped, held hostage tortured, raped and rescued to finally tell my story. In 1992, as a wife, mother and business woman, I found myself caught up by capitalists in the now former Soviet Union. Because of a bad Moscow business deal, I was held hostage for USD $1.6 million ransom by Chechen terrorists originally thought to be the Russian mob It was only in 2002, that a key player in the rescue put together by the FBI and “former” KGB amazingly linked the kidnappers to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qeada network. Some experiences we can move through and rebound into a more powerful, more challenging existence. For most this would have been impossible to overcome. My inspiration and motivation was to lose my self pity and confront my demons head on and appreciate how good it is to be alive. Life is now good.