Cicippio Seems to Bear Worst Scars of Ordeal

During his nearly 2,000 days as a hostage, Joseph J. Cicippio appears to have suffered one of the most arduous ordeals of all Westerners held captive by Muslim fundamentalist groups in Lebanon, according to initial medical assessments Tuesday.

Although Cicippio was judged to be basically in sound health after medical examinations, a senior physician here said he was the first former hostage to suffer permanent physical damage as a result of his captivity.

At a medical briefing, Air Force Col. Uwe Fohlmeister, the chief attending physician of the Wiesbaden Medical Center, said Cicippio, 61, who was kidnaped in Beirut in September, 1986, suffered from frostbite and occasional dizzy spells, possibly from being unconscious shortly after his capture.

Fohlmeister also said the former captive had undergone major abdominal surgery only months before his release. But all details of the operation remained a mystery, other than the fact that it was an apparent success and that Cicippio now carries a scar from his breastbone to his pubis. The operation followed a bout of severe abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, but where the surgery occurred, who did it, and what exactly was done remain unclear.

“Neither Mr. Cicippio nor I know what his illness was,” said Fohlmeister. “Whatever it was, he’s healthy now. The scar has healed very well. It looks like a very professional surgeon did the work.”

Fohlmeister said Cicippio also suffered from frostbite on the tips of his fingers and toes, the result of being chained on a balcony during the winters of 1986 and 1990.

The former hostage’s frail appearance, which worried his relatives and led U.S. officials briefly to consider returning Cicippio immediately to the United States for emergency treatment, was in part due to the former hostage’s own decision to lose weight. “He voluntarily lost 40 pounds because he thought he could survive better that way,” said Fohlmeister.

Cicippio spent his first full day of freedom in over five years at the Wiesbaden center, visiting with his Lebanese-born wife, Ilham, and eating three hearty meals that began with a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, pastry, orange juice and coffee. Together with a spaghetti lunch and chicken salad dinner, the meals provided a welcome break from the diet of cheese and rice he was fed during his 1,908 days of captivity.

Cicippio underwent extensive dental work Tuesday, including the pulling of two teeth. But Fohlmeister described Cicippio’s mental state as “very good.”

“He feels well and is elated to be free,” Fohlmeister told reporters. “He’s eating well, he feels well and is looking forward to returning to the United States. He should be leaving by the end of the week.”

Cicippio’s brother, Thomas, and two sons are expected to join the former hostage in a reunion here today.