Ohio Survivor Michelle Knight: 'God Put Us on Earth for One Reason, to Do His Work'
Michelle Knight survived one of the worst ordeals at the hands of Ariel Castro, but the Christian woman says that she has forgiven her captor and rapist and will go on living her life.
Knight, who now goes by the name Lilly, was held captive by Castro for 11 years with two other girls. They managed to escape in 2013 and have largely avoided all contact with the press, but Knight has decided to stay in the limelight and tell her story, perhaps as an example of survival for others.
"I was able to forgive him," Knight said at Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin High School in Chadron, Ohio on Sunday.
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It took her a year and a half before Knight was able to say Castro's name, given all that he had put her through. He lured her into his home with the promise of a puppy for her son—there was no puppy and soon Knight knew that she was in trouble.
"I am a sex addict and I cannot control myself," she quoted Castro as saying at one point.
After she and the other victims escaped captivity, Castro was arrested and sentenced to life behind bars. The thought of being held prisoner overcame the kidnapper and he hanged himself just one month into the sentence.
"I felt very appalled by it, but I understood," Knight said. "I don't condone what he did. God put us on earth for one reason, to do His work. I'm a strong and powerful woman. I say what I mean and I don't' take any crap from anybody. The situation (Castro) put me in didn't define me. I choose to live a meaningful life," she added.
Finding Me, Knight's autobiography, includes the story of how she survived life in captivity and the faith she relied upon. She has never shied away from giving testimony of that strength and crediting God for her survival.
