Updated: Thu Nov. 26 2009 17:11:47

ctvcalgary.ca

Kidnapped journalist, Amanda Lindhout, is free after 15 months in captivity in Somalia and will be on her way home to Canada in the next few days.

A family spokesperson told CTV News that Lindhout is now with her mother in Kenya and is being checked out by doctors there.

Lindhout was ambushed and taken hostage along with Nigel Brennan, a freelance Australian photojournalist, and Abdifatah Mohammed Elmi, a Somali journalist, on August 23, 2008 as the trio made their way to a refugee camp near Mogadishu.

Elmi was released in January 2008 after spending 146 days in captivity.

Details of Lindhout and Brennan's release are still not clear but Lindhout confirmed that her family paid a ransom to secure her release.

Lindhout and Brennan were videotaped leaving Somalia and family friends confirm both were reunited with their families in Nairobi.

The freed Alberta native spoke to CTV News Channel just hours after her release and said that she was beaten and tortured and forced to live in a room without windows.

"It was extremely oppressive. I was kept by myself at all times. I had no one to speak to. I was normally kept in a room with a light, no window; I had nothing to write on or with. There was very little food. I was allowed to use the toilet exactly five times a day," Lindhout told CTV during a telephone interview from Mogadishu on the day of her release.

Jeremy Kroeker met Amanda a few years ago while travelling in Damascus and has kept a close friendship with her and her family ever since.

Kroeker says he had a hard time believing she was finally free.

"There were times when it was difficult to maintain hope but all of us felt it was our responsibility to at least do that for Amanda," said Kroeker, "no I never gave up hope."

Psychologist, Michael Webster, who specializes in kidnap and hostage situations, says Lindhout will need time to decompress, get counseling and reacquaint herself with family and friends.