Impossible odds

In 2006, twenty-seven-year-old Jessica Buchanan stepped off a plane in Nairobi, Kenya hoping to help educate African children. By 2009 she had met and married a native swede named Erik Landemalm who worked to coordinate humanitarian aid with authorities in Africa and together they moved from Nairobi to Somalia. On October 25, 2011, Jessica and a colleague were kidnapped by Somali pirates and held for ransom. Jessica was terrorized, held indoors in filthy conditions, and kept on a starvation diet as ransom negotiations dragged on. After ninety-three days, Jessica's deteriorating health was becoming a life-or-death issue and President Obama ordered Navy SEAL Team Six to attempt a rescue operation.