Ukraine prisoner-of- war Dylan Healy’s parents have revealed they were still in shock when they greeted him after his release.
The aid worker’s dad Cliff said when they were reunited: “You’ve always been good at getting yourself into sh** but you’ve taken the biscuit with this one.”
Dylan, 22, was tortured, subjected to a mock execution and had to deal with the death of his British dad-of-four friend Paul Urey during his time as a hostage.
Former chef Dylan was freed along with four other British PoWs in a prisoner exchange on September 22 – and Cliff, 61, and mum Helen, 57, were stunned to welcome him back.
Helen recalled: “There were hugs but not tears because we were still in shock that this had finally happened.”
Yesterday, the Sunday Mirror revealed how Dylan honoured a promise to Paul, 45, to meet his daughters Chelsea, 21, and 17-year-old Courtney Coman.
He answered their questions about diabetic Paul’s death on July 10, which his captors claimed was due to medical issues.
Dylan is now receiving support and will soon have counselling.
He said: “I can’t shake the sense of hyper-awareness. I spent months inside cells noticing every little change, so I’m struggling to sleep.
“I’ll be sitting in my front room and realise I’ve subconsciously been counting how many cars go past.”
He said only Aiden Aslin, John Hardin, Shaun Pinner and Andrew Hill, who were also detained in the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, can fully understand how he feels.
“We’ve all got that unbreakable bond and we’re all the same kind of person,” he said. “We want to stay in contact.”
His parents, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, said they had “heard rumblings” of a prisoner release the day before the Foreign Office rang to confirm Dylan was free.
“It was unbelievable,” Helen said. “It all happened so quickly.”
They were reunited with Dylan in a scene which Cliff said was “surreal – like a film.”
