Cherelle Griner’s last call with her wife, Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner, left her heartbroken.
Brittney remains in jail in Russia awaiting an appeal hearing after her first arrest in February. After Cherelle spoke to him recently, she told CBS News’ Gayle King that she cried for “two, three days straight.”
“It was the most disturbing phone call I’ve ever experienced,” Cherelle told CBS on Thursday. “It’s just the quietest moment I think I’ve ever shared with my wife. I had no words.
Brittney Griner is ‘at her weakest moment of her life’
Brittney Griner was arrested Feb. 17 at a Moscow airport after officials said they found vape cartridges containing hash oil in her luggage. She has been detained ever since.
Griner, who plays in Russia during the WNBA offseason, has since pleaded guilty to drug possession and trafficking and was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony. She has appealed against this sentence and is due to appear in court on October 25.
The United States government is working to secure his release, as well as that of fellow American Paul Whelan, but it is unclear whether any significant progress has been made on this front in recent weeks.
While Griner would have been in good spirits, all things considered, at the start of his detention, Cherelle said that mood was long gone.
Brittney, Cherelle said Thursday, is “at her weakest moment of her life right now.”
“She tells me things like, ‘My life doesn’t even matter anymore,'” Cherelle told CBS. “You know, ‘I feel like my life just doesn’t matter. Like, I’m shook for people’s sake and gain.
Cherelle also fears that after her appeal hearing ends, Brittney could end up being transferred to a labor camp – something she said she “can’t even understand”.
“I don’t know if she has anything left in her tank to keep waking up every day and being in a place where she doesn’t have anyone,” Cherelle told CBS.
However, Cherelle does not give up.
She wants to make sure Brittney knows too.
“These are all valid emotions to feel and I have no answers except that your life matters to me and I want to bring you home,” Cherelle told CBS. “I’m going to continue to pray every day that, you know, the people who are the decision makers in this situation will have mercy and sit down and they will also see that your life matters and will do whatever they can to agree on terms.”
