Cape Town - For the first time in six years, the mother of Ashley Oosthuizen, who is imprisoned for life in Thailand for drug trafficking, has shared her joy and exhilaration of being able to hug her daughter.
While Lynn Blignaut awaits the outcome of her appeal against Oosthuizen’s sentence, she was granted the opportunity to visit her daughter in prison last week, where human contact was allowed.
Blignaut shared her excitement via the Facebook page “A voice for Ashley Oosthuizen”.
But after much-anticipation, Blignaut, who has been living in Thailand for two years to be near her daughter, revealed she was allowed to hug her daughter while visiting her at prison on Friday.
A visibly happy Blignaut said she knew many were thrilled, believing she had good news about her daughter’s release. “The last time Ashley and I got to hug one another or be together was in 2019, in June.
“This is the second contact visit allowed at the prison since Covid-19.
“The previous contact visit last year, we did not qualify.
“This year it changed and by the grace of God, we were on the list.
“We are so thankful for that.”
Blignaut said the process was much more relaxed and that she was even allowed to have lunch with her daughter, purchase food together, and spend more hours together.
“It was an amazing time,” she said. “We had about two hours and I also had to be there two hours before.
“At 12 noon, they called the relatives and started to book us for the visit. “There were between 150 and 200 people.
“There were a 100 inmates who expected their family.
“When Ashley saw me first, I was so overwhelmed.
“Ashley came running to me and we jumped on one another.
“I was like a child, when a child jumps on their parent, she is a bit taller than me, we just held one another, it was so emotional.
“We had been seated under a dome, which was 100 metres with tables and chairs and I had to purchase coupons for food.
“We went shopping for food.
“We hooked into one another and began walking to all the tables, we were being silly, like we always used to be.”
Blignaut said she was impressed with her daughter’s ability to speak Thai frequently and that she had learnt a few words.
“It is an experience I cannot explain unless you have been in the same situation and we trust that Ashley will be released soon, but not our will but God’s will.
“Thank you for your support.”
Blignaut completed a legal petition together with an appeal to the Supreme Court in Thailand, which was submitted in 2022 and 2023 and is now awaiting the outcome, which can be an indefinite period of up to two years.
Blignaut bravely sold her business linked to care giving placement and medical disability aid supplies and her belongings and moved to Thailand.
Oosthuizen was arrested in 2020 for international drug trafficking after she accepted a package containing MDMA, ecstasy while working at a restaurant and had moved to Thailand in 2018 for better opportunities as a preschool teacher.