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Students by day and hostage negotiators by night

Miles Hargrove needed someone he could trust, who was fluent in Spanish to negotiate with his dad’s Farc kidnappers. So he turned to his old school friend Robert Clerx.

In 1994 Robert Clerx was studying in Colombia, when an old school friend, Miles Hargrove asked him for a very large favour. To help him buy back his father. The boys had been friends since Miles and his family had moved to Colombia from America for his dad’s job. Then Miles’ dad was kidnapped by the Farc guerrilla group, who demanded a six million dollar ransom and would only negotiate with family or a friend. But the family didn’t feel confident that their Spanish was good enough to take on such a delicate and risky task. So they asked for Robert's help. Miles' film about their ordeal is called: Miracle Fishing.

Picture: Miles Hargrove and team planning rescue negotiations
Credit: Miles Hargrove

Available now

44 minutes

Last on

Fri 29 May 2020 03:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 28 May 2020 11:06GMT
  • Thu 28 May 2020 17:06GMT
  • Fri 29 May 2020 03:06GMT

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Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected