On February 23, 2010, Alberta MLA Manmeet Bhullar spoke of Lindhout's release on the floor of the Alberta Legislature, stating that there was no honour or medal prestigious enough to reward Lindhout for putting her life in danger to help others and for recognizing that her captors were themselves in need of assistance. In June 2012, Lindhout received the Red Deer Women of Excellence Award in Human Services in recognition of her leadership, compassion and practice in human service programs within the community. In March 2012, she also accepted an invitation from former President of the United States Bill Clinton to participate on a panel at the annual Clinton Global Initiative about her humanitarian work in the Horn of Africa with the Global Enrichment Foundation. In spring of 2012, Lindhout was asked to be photographed for the book "100 Making a Difference" by celebrity photographer John Russo. In 2014, Jann Arden wrote a song about Lindhout's hostage experience, releasing it on her album Everything Almost. Lindhout was awarded a Doctor of Laws, honouris causa, from the University of Lethbridge on May 30, 2014. The institution's Chancellor Shirley McClellan described Lindhout's story as "one of incredible perseverance and compassion," and expressed admiration for Lindhout for using her hostage experience as an impetus to effect change.
Lindhout was born in 1981 in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. After her parents separated, Lindhout lived in Sylvan Lake, Alberta. She and her two brothers (Mark and Nathaniel) were raised by their mother, Lorinda, with Amanda spending much of her youth reading National Geographic Magazine. Lindhout's father had chronic health problems, and depended on disability payments. Her mother held a minimum-wage job. Lindhout had early aspirations to become a model and did some brief modelling work. She also considered enrolling in a beautician's school.
At the age of 24, Lindhout quit her job as a cocktail waitress to become a Journalist. She used her salary from the bar where she worked to Finance reporting trips to various conflict zones around the world. Lindhout began her new journalism career in Afghanistan, arriving in the capital Kabul in May 2007. She later moved on to an assignment in Baghdad, Iraq in January 2008, where she worked on a freelance basis for Iran's state television Press TV. This led some Canadian reporters to criticize her, due to Press TV's reputation for producing state propaganda. While in Iraq, reports indicated that Lindhout had been kidnapped in Sadr City. She was said to have been released several hours later, after paying a ransom to her abductors. However, Lindhout in her book denied having been kidnapped in Iraq. She wrote that she was instead taken to the Sadr Party Headquarters and questioned about her political affiliations, and that she was able to call an Iraqi friend who ensured they were released within the hour.
On September 17, Al Jazeera featured footage of Lindhout and Brennan in captivity surrounded by gunmen. On October 13, 2008, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of US$2.5 million by October 28. On February 23, 2009, the Canadian Association of Journalists urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to help secure the release of Lindhout and Khadija Abdul Qahaar, a Canadian woman who was kidnapped in November.
On November 25, 2009, after 460 days as a hostage, Lindhout and Brennan were released following a ransom payment made by their families through a private firm that specializes in kidnappings and ransom payments. She was hospitalized in Nairobi for two weeks and treated for acute malnourishment. Following her release, Lindhout said she found the coverage of her hostage experience to be sensational. In September 2013, Tina Brown of the Daily Beast was accused of falsely printing stories about Lindhout during her captivity, including an incorrect story about an alleged Lindhout pregnancy that never took place. A resulting retraction was printed by National Public Radio in response to Brown's comments.
On February 23, 2010, Alberta MLA Manmeet Bhullar spoke of Lindhout's release on the floor of the Alberta Legislature, stating that there was no honour or medal prestigious enough to reward Lindhout for putting her life in danger to help others and for recognizing that her captors were themselves in need of assistance. In June 2012, Lindhout received the Red Deer Women of Excellence Award in Human Services in recognition of her leadership, compassion and practice in human Service programs within the community. In March 2012, she also accepted an invitation from former President of the United States Bill Clinton to participate on a panel at the annual Clinton Global Initiative about her humanitarian work in the Horn of Africa with the Global Enrichment Foundation. In spring of 2012, Lindhout was asked to be photographed for the book "100 Making a Difference" by Celebrity Photographer John Russo. In 2014, Jann Arden wrote a song about Lindhout's hostage experience, releasing it on her album Everything Almost. Lindhout was awarded a Doctor of Laws, honouris causa, from the University of Lethbridge on May 30, 2014. The institution's Chancellor Shirley McClellan described Lindhout's story as "one of incredible perseverance and compassion," and expressed admiration for Lindhout for using her hostage experience as an impetus to effect change.
On August 4, 2011, Lindhout travelled back to Somalia for the first time since her captivity. Leading a large convoy carrying food aid for 14,000 people in the southern Somalia town of Dobley, she was welcomed by Somalia's Transitional Federal Government. Lindhout described the trip as also "an opportunity for me to look at that fear and maybe let it go — this fear that I have been carrying around with me for some time". Her Convoys For Hope project continued to provide relief and expects to assist 300,000 more people during the drought.
In 2012, Lindhout was featured as the face of jewelry company Hillberg & Berk's spring/summer 2012 'Najo Rajo' Collection of Hope. The Regina, Saskatchewan-based company donated $15,000 towards the Global Enrichment Foundation's Somali Women's Scholarship Program for Amanda's participation.
At the 2013 One Billion Rising event in Calgary, Lindhout spoke for the first time in frank terms about her victimization in Somalia at the hands of her teenage captors. The speech was part of V-Day, a global Activist movement to halt gender-based violence. One Billion Rising is an international campaign to end violence against women. She also spoke at the We-day event in Winnipeg later that year.
The book received criticism from some journalists. Some of Lindhout's retelling of events contradict those found in the earlier published memoir of her co-captive, Nigel Brennan. On June 25, 2014, the memoir was optioned by Annapurna Pictures in order to create a screen-adaptation of the book. The project's producers were set to be Annapurna founder Megan Ellison, and Rooney Mara, who was also set to play the role of Lindhout in the film.
On June 12, 2015, the RCMP announced the arrest of Ali Omar Ader, in Ottawa, describing him as the "main negotiator" in the hostage-taking of Lindhout and Nigel Brennan.
