After long detainment in Russia, Brittney Griner must readjust to life back home | 24CA News
Brittney Griner has begun stepping again right into a life that was placed on maintain by greater than 9 months of Russian imprisonment, however the journey that lies forward might deliver its personal challenges.
The WNBA star is again on U.S. soil after Washington agreed to launch a convicted arms seller and ship him again to Russia to make that occur. Griner had been held since Feb. 17, days earlier than Russia invaded Ukraine, after vape cartridges containing hashish oil have been present in her baggage.
Her first cease has been to a U.S. Army medical hospital in Texas. U.S. officers say she’ll be provided specialised medical providers and counselling.
“The U.S. government is focused on ensuring that Brittney Griner and her family’s well-being are prioritized and that all assistance available be offered in an appropriate manner,” stated Lisa Lawrence, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defence, in an e-mail.
Griner had been going through a nine-year sentence in a Russian penal colony after her conviction for drug possession and smuggling.
What comes subsequent for Griner might be a means of readjusting — to life within the U.S., to life within the highlight, to a life she used to reside.
An particular person journey
Ruth Lanius, a professor of psychitahnkatry at Western University in London, Ont., stated this type of situation includes an individual having to get used to a really completely different state of affairs to what they’ve simply been dwelling by means of.
“That’s not always easy and it takes time,” stated Lanius, talking concerning the normal context of such a course of, which may vary from weeks to months, and even longer.
In Griner’s case, this might contain shifting from a really restricted life in captivity to being free once more.
Lanius stated an individual attempting to re-adapt on this method wants social assist, with the folks of their life working to grasp what they want and the way a lot engagement they’ll deal with.
To date, Griner has acquired sturdy assist from her family members, from her fellow WNBA gamers, the White House and additionally the general public.
“There has not been a day over the past ten months where we all haven’t had Brittney Griner on our minds and in our hearts and that has now turned into a collective wave of joy,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert stated in an announcement Thursday, when news broke that Griner was free.
Lanius stated it is attainable public assist might be a optimistic think about one of these context.
The athlete issue
Athletes are identified for his or her resilience and grit.
These are qualities that might show useful for somebody like Griner, stated Frances Flint, an affiliate professor emerita of kinesiology and well being science at Toronto’s York University.
Basketball star Brittney Griner is again within the U.S. after being launched from Russia as a part of a prisoner alternate. During her return, she crossed paths with arms seller Viktor Bout, whose launch was licensed by U.S. President Joe Biden as a part of the deal.
But there’ll inevitably be moments forward when she’ll have “to draw on that resilience” to cope with melancholy she might face, stated Flint.
“There’s bound to be a rebound,” she stated.
Catherine Sabiston, a professor within the school of kinesiology and bodily schooling on the University of Toronto, stated the months Griner spent in detention will undoubtedly have been troublesome.
“Drawing on theories of post-traumatic growth, this type of event is likely to have challenged her greatly, and there has been a lot of time in isolation to ruminate and think about what’s next,” she stated by way of e-mail.
The star athlete will proceed to face “stressors and distress … and yet all of these conditions may foster growth.”
Hope she ‘laces them up’
Griner has not introduced her plans, although a few of her supporters hope to see her enjoying once more.
“There’s so much love that the basketball community has for Brittney that they want to show her,” stated Dawn Staley, who coached the gold medal-winning 2020 Olympics squad Griner performed for.
“We want her back in her happy place. So I hope that Brittney laces them up. But if she does not, I truly would understand why. We’re still going to support it. We’re still going to lift her up.”
The University of Toronto’s Sabiston stated Griner, a homosexual Black athlete, was “a trailblazer” effectively earlier than she was detained in Russia and skilled in coping with obstacles.
“She has faced challenges specific to intersections of gender, race, and sexual orientation,” she stated.
“Facing challenges has been a part of her sport career,” she stated. “It will certainly help manage this major stressor of facing the return to sport.”
Others nonetheless await repatriation
The swap that introduced Griner house did not free Paul Whelan — one other prisoner the U.S. hoped to incorporate within the deal.
David Whelan, whose Ottawa-born brother Paul has been detained in Russia for almost 4 years, reacts to Brittney Griner being liberated as his brother stays imprisoned.
The U.S. authorities continues to push for his launch. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated Friday stated that additional prisoner swaps between the 2 international locations are attainable.
Whelan’s story is not going away — nor is it going unnoticed by Griner’s supporters.
“Our hope is that Paul Whelan and every wrongfully detained American will be returned home safely and as soon as possible,” stated Engelbert, the WNBA commissioner, within the assertion welcoming Griner’s launch.
