A year after the gesture that instantly gained him adulation throughout the Arab world, the Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at George Bush has complained that life since then has not lived up to expectations in one crucial respect – money.

In an interview with the Observer, Muntazer al-Zaidi said his only regret after spending nine months in prison – where he says he was repeatedly beaten by his jailers – was that he was still a relatively poor man.

"I blame the media because they said I would become rich for doing what I did, that I would become a multi-millionaire," al-Zaidi said from Switzerland, where he is receiving treatment for several health problems. "Though I thank them for their concern for me, all the promises about gifts I heard when I was in prison were just empty. The only gift I've got since my release is from Canadian television who made me their man of the year and gave me a pair of golden shoes."

Al-Zaidi is determined to find the money to open an orphanage, which will also cater for women widowed during the six years of war. As a young reporter, Al-Zaid said he covered many shocking incidents throughout Iraq, including the deaths of entire families that were allegedly the result of American munitions. This, he says, was a key motivator in his protest against Bush, who was on his final visit as US president to the country.

"I will go back to my country when I find support for my foundation to help orphans and widows as I had promised," he said. "All their eyes now look to me and are waiting for me, so I will return one day."

In the lead-up to his release in September, al-Zaidi was hailed across the Muslim world as a hero, an underpaid reporter from a poor quarter of Baghdad who defied the leader of a superpower. Numerous pledges were made in Arab media, from across the Middle East and beyond, of gifts including virgin brides, gold-saddled horses, cars, houses and camels. Al-Zaidi was told of the offers in prison, during visits from his brothers.

In the tumultuous few days after he was freed, the euphoria continued. Draped in a scarf embroidered with an Iraqi flag, al-Zaidi was given a hero's homecoming at the TV station, Al-Baghdadiyah, which still employs him. Sheep were slaughtered at his feet, trumpets blared and drummers took to the streets. Satellite channels and local media carried the scenes live.

But within 48 hours he was flown on a private jet, paid for by an unknown benefactor, first to Damascus and then to Geneva, where he remains. The home that was bought for him in a Shia suburb of north-east Baghdad remains empty, as do his private coffers.

Al-Zaidi remains proud of his gesture and the way he believes that it was understood across the globe, although one Iraqi reporter hurled his shoes at him during a press conference in Geneva last month.

"I become a famous name in all the free world not only for Muslims and Arabs, but in Europe," he said. "Everywhere people have received me like a hero, but the point is not the reception, the point is they believe in what I did. I feel very proud of what I did. I am happy I defended my country's dignity. All free people respect this.

"I still have problems in my stomach, my liver and with my nose, which didn't heal properly after the guards broke it. It is being paid for with my own money and through friends."

He said his rapid departure from Iraq was to escape persecution from the government, which was furious he had insulted a visiting head of state. Three months after leaving Iraq, he is still unsure about when he will return.

As for the shoe-throwing incident, his version remains that he snapped while inside the press conference with Bush and Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, which he was covering for Al-Baghdadiyah. His brothers have hinted, however, that the protest was premeditated. Whatever the case, a year later, al-Zaidi says it was worth it.

"Yes it was, I was ready to pay [with] my life," he said. "I had prepared myself to die, not to spend only one year in prison. I threw shoes at Bush… while Bush threw millions of bombs at Iraqis. Which was worse?"