Marina Chapman, who was kidnapped as a four-year-old and raised by monkeys in a Colombian rainforest, has revealed she was left terrified after seeing her face for the first time in a mirror. In a new interview, she described the moment as "a shock of my life" because she had not realised what her face looked like.
Kidnapped and abandoned in the jungle
Marina was just four when she was kidnapped by trafficking gangs outside her home in Colombia before her abductors dumped her inside a rainforest. Recalling her earliest memory, she said she was playing with peapods before being grabbed from behind and having her face covered.
The morning after that "very horrible moment", Marina woke up and realised she was in a forest. She recalled: "I realised it’s a forest and then I realised an animal… one monkey came, and then some more followed him, and they came closer to me and they were staring at me. I was quite upset and one of them came and start to pop my ears and they start to touch me."
The black and white capuchin monkeys soon became bored but kept returning to visit her. She said they did not accept her right away, but then started to climb on her shoulders and play with her hair.
Feeling part of the monkeys
She told OMG Stories Up Close: "That was a great comfort for me because I was feeling very isolated after so many months or days. I felt very solitary and for this animal to climb over my shoulders and stay there playing with my hair. That was really comforting for me when I was waiting for people to come for me. Nobody turned up."
Marina, now in her mid-70s, ended up staying in the jungle for up to seven years, surviving by drinking lots of water, eating seeds, and picking up scraps left by the monkeys. Asked whether they felt like family, she said: "I felt like I was part of them because of the hands. They behave like a human.
"I was shocked when I found a piece of mirror. It was a shock of my life because I didn’t realise about my face. It was the first time I saw my face. For me, I just thought, I am not like a monkey. I felt like I was related to them. I was beginning to feel a little bit confused. I don’t think I speak any language. I think I forgot my own language because I began to recognise the noises."
Life after the jungle
Marina said the noises were how she communicated with the monkeys, with a whistle meaning food and a screech meaning danger. She also recalled becoming sick after eating the wrong seeds, and an old monkey pulling her into a puddle of water. She said: "I drunk so much water and I was quite sick after until I looked at his face. He was staring at me. I realised something about his eyes, he didn’t want to kill me. I just thought there was something special about when I looked at his eyes. I felt he was a good monkey. He didn't want to kill. But I felt better in my stomach after a while."
Her big "regret" was leaving the jungle, which happened after she spotted a group of hunters. A woman’s smile encouraged her to step forward, but she was soon grabbed by a man. Marina was transported to Cucuta in Colombia, where she was taken to a brothel but managed to escape, leading to her living rough on the streets.
She eventually came across a couple from Bradford, who took her in and raised her in the UK, after her original family could not be found. Marina is now married with two daughters and two grandchildren. She said it was initially "very painful" trying to become human again, and at first she could not open doors, eat properly, or use a knife, fork or spoon. "I was completely useless," she added.
Trusting people was the "most difficult" thing she grappled with, but she said: "I have two daughters. I never imagined to have children or be a mother." Marina added that many people presumed she would never live a "normal life", and she even surprised herself with how well she has done. Despite not having an education, she said she managed to survive by doing her best and being as good a human as possible.
She said: "Some in Colombia never thought I'd be able some people never thought I was a person to become a human that will live a normal life. They had no, I mean high aspiration about me. They never thought I would survive. I have no idea how these happen. I never had education. I just pretend to survive and trying to do the best in life to become a good human and I love it."
Her grandson has just finished at Manchester University studying filming, while her granddaughter is in college. Concluding her interview, she said: "I'm so grateful and I’m just so grateful to my daughter and my family, my grandchildren."
