A large number of Burgesses attended a unique talk on 19th October from our guest speaker, Roger Hunt.
Roger shared his story of how he became caught up in the Mumbai massacres in 2008 and witnessed the killing of innocent people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Roger talked in detail about his strategies to cope with what turned out to be over 40 hours, when he was a hostage in a burning hotel while a group of suicidal terrorists – who had already murdered hotel workers and guests in cold blood – remained barricaded in with hostages on the floors directly above him.
From these traumatic experiences, Roger shared his views on Human Resilience, endorsing the fact that, we are not born with resilience, but that we acquire it throughout our lives. Roger spoke of resilience being the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress and that every one of us has it within our gift to develop and nurture resilience.
Now Chief of Business Services at Aberdeen airport, Roger shares his experiences widely to a local, national and global audience. A full account of Roger’s experience can be found in his book entitled ‘Be Silent or Be Killed’.
A vote of thanks at the conclusion of the lunch was given by Senior Assessor Mr Joe Mackie OBE.
