Brittney Griner stated she’s “grateful” to be again within the United States and plans on enjoying basketball once more subsequent season for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.
“It feels so good to be home!” Griner posted to Instagram on Friday in her first public assertion since her launch. “The last 10 months have been a battle at every turn. I dug deep to keep my faith and it was the love from so many of you that helped keep me going. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for your help.”
Griner left the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, eight days after the US basketball star arrived on the facility following her launch from a Russian penal colony as a part of a prisoner swap, CNN reported.
Griner arrived on the medical centre final Friday after US officers secured her freedom from Russia in change for Russian arms supplier Viktor Bout.
Griner, 32, a star of the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Phoenix Mercury, was arrested on Feb. 17 at an airport exterior Moscow for carrying vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her baggage.
She was subsequently convicted of drug smuggling and transferred to one among Russia’s most infamous penal colonies, the place former inmates have described torture, harsh beatings and slave labour situations.
(With inputs from AP)
