Pirates held her hostage for 93 days. She says surviving taught her what really matters when life falls apart.

Jessica Buchanan says she spent 93 days as a hostage of Somali pirates, and that surviving the confinement gave her a practical lesson for life when circumstances collapse. She told Business Insider that people may recognize the feeling of being “confined,” whether by external events or by their own minds—and that “freedom is possible.” Buchanan, now a writer and speaker on survival and recovery after trauma, says she endured extreme desert heat and cold, limited food, and long periods separated from her colleague while she tried to organize her thoughts. Near the end, during a Jan. 16 proof-of-life call, she believed she had about two weeks without medical care. Nine days later, SEAL Team Six rescued her, and she later faced PTSD symptoms and rebuilding her identity.