WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner, in an interview with ABC News, admits she contemplated suicide multiple times in the early days of imprisonment in Russia.
Bounding Into Sports reported on excerpts from the interview that were released last week. In those clips, Griner revealed just how scared she was staying inside the prison.
Now, ABC has released the interview, revealing more harrowing details of the Phoenix Mercury star’s ordeal.
“I wanted to take my life more than once in those first weeks,” she said. “I felt like leaving here so badly.”
Things got very bad.
“I didn’t think I could get through what I needed to get through. I definitely thought about it (suicide),” she added.
Thankfully, she toughed it out and is still with us today.
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Brittney Griner Fought Back Thoughts Of Suicide While In Prison
WNBA star Brittney Griner told ABC’s Robin Roberts that she tamped down those thoughts by thinking of her family.
“But then, I was just like, what if they didn’t release my body to my family?” she continues. “And I was like, I can’t put them through that. I have to endure this.”
Griner also reveals the terrifying conditions that made her struggle mentally with her prison stay. Part of that terror includes finding a “big a– knife” in her cell.
“There was a huge knife sitting on the table, and I was just like: ‘Now, this is going to be a ride,’” said Griner. “You got to do what you got to do to survive. The mattress had a huge blood stain on it. I had no soap, no toilet paper.”
Griner went on to explain that she still feels like she let her family down in some measure.
“I don’t think I’ve really gotten through all the way,” she laments.
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How Did This Happen?
Brittney Griner was imprisoned in Russia after being detained at an airport for carrying vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in 2022.
This is an illegal act in Russia, and she was found guilty of drug smuggling charges. Griner faced a whopping nine years in prison.
Griner was subsequently released early by Russia in a 1-for-1 prisoner swap for arms dealer Viktor Bout. The 9-time WNBA All-Star altogether served a nearly 10-month prison term.
Through it all though, she persevered.
“I try to give myself grace,” she says. “Everybody says give yourself grace. It’s so hard for me to do that.”
