T WAS the first time she'd seen her daughter in three years but she couldn't hug her or even hold her hand - a glass partition separated them and a prison guard watched their every move.
Yet as heartbreaking as it was, Lynn Blignaut drew some comfort from the fact her daughter, Ashley, looked healthy and seemed in good spirits despite the circumstances.
Ashley (23) made international headlines when she was found guilty of possessing drugs with the intent to distribute them in Thailand on 18 August 2021 and sentenced to life in prison.
The young woman maintains she didn't know what was in the package, which she says she received on a friend's behalf in October 2020. It had contained 250g MDMA, also known as ecstasy.
In August this year, Ashley's sentence was reduced by the appeal court to 33 years and four months - but for her and her mom, it's still a lifetime.
Lynn, who lives in George in the Western Cape, is battling to come to terms with the fact that her daughter is in jail in a far-off country, so she flew to Thailand to see if there was anything she could do to free her child.
She's been seeing Ashley twice a week for 15 minutes in the Nakhon Si Thammarat Prison in southern Thailand. These precious visits take place in a room that's only 7m by 3m in dimension, and mom and daughter are on either side of a wall-to-wall glass partition.
"I honestly can't recall everything that happened when I first saw her, but it was very, very emotional for the both of us," Lynn tells YOU.
She and Ashley start each visit by praying together. Lynn says faith is the one thing that's kept her going since the nightmare started.
"When I visited Ashley on the Friday following the [reduced] sentencing, she was very down. But she later wrote me a note to say her mood had improved after we prayed."
Bu hikaye YOU South Africa dergisinin 15 September 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye YOU South Africa dergisinin 15 September 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
ONE OF A KIND
She survived a violent stepfather and being raped by a bandmate as well as rampant showbiz sexism. Now as singer Cyndi Lauper heads off on her farewell tour aged 71, she just wants to have fun
TRUE TO HIS ROOTS
Rap icon Kendrick Lamar's recent Grammy haul has cemented his status as the king of hip-hop
RYAN'S ON A ROLLI
Ryan Rickelton has taken the cricket scene by storm, announcing himself as a force to be reckoned with
PARALYMPICS, HERE I COME!
He lost his left leg as a baby, but these days Nicklaas is a star on the athletics field and he's got big dreams
KEKE'S KICKING IT!
From child star to Hollywood powerhouse - Keke Palmer shines as an actress, podcast host and film producer
NEXT CHAPTER LOADING
Werner Wessels, the creative force behind many Miss SA winners, is stepping away from pageants to embrace new opportunities
BABY SHAME GAME
Lily Collins got a lot more than she bargained for when she announced she'd become a mom via a surrogate
BRIDGET'S BACK!
Renée Zellweger returns for the fourth and possibly final outing of Helen Fielding's ditsy cult heroine, a role she has relished from day one
I CAN BREATHE AGAIN'
After months of legal hell, two aneurysms and brain surgery, Alison Botha is relieved that her attackers are back behind bars and she can focus on getting better
SA IN TRUMP'S SIGHTS
With Elon Musk whispering in his ear the US president has unleashed his wrath on South Africa. But how worried should we be?
