Adversity allows you to discover your strength to survive, Cleveland kidnap victim tells crowd

CANFIELD

Those who have endured sexual, physical, emotional and mental abuse – or any other type of adversity – have the ability to tap into their inner strength to transition from victim to survivor.

That concept may seem grounded in common sense, but it carries much more weight when Michelle Knight discusses it.

“You never know how strong you are until strength is the only choice you have,” Knight told those who came to today’s conference, “The Juvenile Sex Offender: Research, Treatment and Legal Process,” at Drake’s Landing Banquet Center, 2217 W. Western Reserve Road.

Knight, author of the recent best-selling memoir, “Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed,” was abducted by Ariel Castro on Aug. 21, 2002, in Cleveland. Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry also were kidnapped and held captive for years in his Cleveland house until all three escaped May 6, 2013.

Castro was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years before he was found dead in his cell after committing suicide.

An estimated 200 mental-health professionals, law-enforcement personnel, elected officials, clergy members and others attended the seminar.

Read more of what she had to say in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.