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Liverpool forward Luis Diaz did not know if he’d see his parents again when they were kidnapped in late October.
Thankfully, the soccer star’s mother an father have both since been released and were unharmed.
Diaz was able to reunite with his father recently when he returned to Colombia to play for the national team. And the video is one that will leave you in tears.
🎥 ¡𝐄𝐥 𝐡𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚́ 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚́ 𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐨́𝐧! 🫂
Con @LuisFDiaz19 y el recibimiento de su familia, sumamos una llegada más a nuestra concentración 🤩#TodosSomosColombia🇨🇴 pic.twitter.com/2vwQD6dLxj
— Selección Colombia (@FCFSeleccionCol) November 14, 2023
Diaz’s father first picks up his grandaughter, Roma, before a long and tearful embrace with his son.
It was a beautiful moment for both the 26-year-old and his father.
Luis Diaz Sr. gave an interview shortly after he was released on Nov. 9 detailing his horrifying experience.
“I would not want anyone to be in that mountain in the situation I was in,” he told reporters in a tearful interview.
The 58-year-old said those days had been a “very difficult” time for him.
Police said that after a co-ordinated effort between Colombian and British authorities, a criminal group called “los primos” was dismantled.
Members of the National Liberation Army (ELN) officially handed him over to United Nations and Catholic Church officials on Nov. 9.
The ELN is Colombia’s largest remaining active guerrilla group. It has been fighting the state since 1964 and has an estimated 2,500 members.
It is most active in the border region with Venezuela, where Luis Manuel Díaz and his wife live.
Diaz’s mother Cilenis Marulanda, was kidnapped at gunpoint alongside his father, but was released within hours.
Days before his father’s release, Díaz scored a goal against Premier League side Luton and lifted his shirt to reveal the words in Spanish “freedom for papa”.
Diaz and Colombia are set to take on Brazil in a 2026 World Cup qualifying match on Thursday night. They’ll then travel to Paraguay for a second World Cup qualifier next Tuesday.