#FreeAmir at Last: American Prisoner Freed from Iran Speaks: ‘It’s Like Being Born Again’

Amir Hekmati, one of the American prisoners who was released from his four-year imprisonment in Iran, spoke on CNN today about how good it feels to finally be free.

Speaking from Landstuhl, Germany, Hekmati described how little he knew about the outside world during his incarceration, but expressed tremendous gratitude that he managed to persevere and rejoin the world.

“I feel extremely lucky, alive for the first time in a long time and I’m very humbled at everybody’s support from the President to Congress to my fellow Marines and especially my family who have really gone through so much throughout this time,” Hekmati said. “I hope to give more details in the future.”

Hekmati described how he had previously resigned himself to many more years in his Iranian prison, and that the true meaning of his release never sunk in until he was flying out of the country. When asked how it felt, Hekmati said, “I feel alive for the first time, and it is like being born again, and I just really feel proud to be an American.”

Hekmati was just one of several American released in the prisoner swap. A strong social media movement called #FreeAmir called for Hekmati’s release over the past several years.

Watch above, via CNN.

[Image via screengrab]

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