Elizabeth Smart inspires audience

GIRARD — Kidnapping victim Elizabeth Smart believes anyone can overcome life’s most difficult obstacles.

“We aren’t defined by want happens to us in life, but, really, what we choose to do with what happens to us in life,” she said.

Smart shared her message tonight with 650 women at the first Healthy Woman Expo and Dinner at the Mahoning Country Club.

In 2002, the then 14-year-old Smart was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City. While she was held captive, she was sexually abused and forced to marry. The nine-month search for Smart garnered international media attention until she was found in Sandy, Utah, nearly 18 miles from her home.

During her speech, Smart, now an ABC News commentator, shared some of her thoughts during the first moments of her kidnapping.

“There came a point in my kidnapping that I made a decision, and its been one of the most important decisions in my life — I made the decision to survive no matter what,” she said. “I knew I could survive, whether it was three days or 30 years, I would survive.”

For the complete story, read Thursday's Vindicator and Vindy.com