Ken Elliott: kidnapped Australian surgeon says he had scurvy and was close to death during seven years in Africa

The missionary, who was taken by an al-Qaida-linked group in Burkina Faso in 2016, tells how God and meditating on scripture sustained him

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An Australian surgeon who was held captive by militants in Africa for more than seven years has spoken publicly about the toll of the ordeal, saying he became so malnourished he got scurvy and was close to death.

Ken Elliott and his wife, Jocelyn, were in their 80s when they were kidnapped by an al-Qaida-linked group in Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in the Sahel region that is experiencing increasing unrest.

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