A ransom of $1.1 million was airdropped yesterday, say sources, and Tebbutt was flown to Nairobi this morning.
Her 90-year-old mother said she “can’t wait” to see her daughter and “can’t believe she’s been freed”.
Tebbutt, 56, said this morning before her release in a video made by her captors: “I feel fine, I had absolutely no torture whatsoever, in fact I have been made to feel as comfortable as possible by the pirates that are holding me.”
Tebbutt, a social worker from Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire, said her “fantastic” son, Oliver, secured her release and added that she was “very relieved” to be free.
She told ITV news: “I’m really happy. It’s just nice to be around other people, it’s been quietly lonely for seven months.”
Tebbutt’s husband, David, was shot dead by the pirates, but she only learned the news two weeks after her abduction.
Tebbutt’s sister said it is a “happy day tinged with sadness” and that David didn’t deserve to die.
