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Public message from Cleveland kidnapping victims a sign of recovery

Public message from Cleveland kidnapping victims a sign of recovery

Three Cleveland women who were rescued earlier this year after being held captive for more than a decade spoke publicly for the first time on Tuesday, releasing a video that thanked the public for its support and thanked it for their privacy.

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight broke their public silence two months after they were recovered from their years-long nightmare being held captive in a two-storey home owned by suspect Ariel Castro.

In a video posted on YouTube through a public relations firm, the women thanked the public for its support and encouragement during the difficult ordeal.

"I want to thank everyone who has helped me and my family through this entire ordeal," said Berry, who escaped the home on May 6, 2013 after 10 years of imprisonment.

"It has been a blessing to have such an outpouring of love and kindness."

Gina DeJesus appeared in the video with her parents, who thanked their friends and neighbours for emotional support through the trying ordeal.

[ Related: Women in Cleveland kidnapping case thank public ]

Knight, was allegedly raped and beaten by Castro for the longest amount of time - being held captive since August 22, 2002. Castro, a former bus driver, is accused of getting the woman pregnant and then causing her to miscarry.

"I may have been through hell and back, but I am strong enough to walk through hell with a smile on my face and my head held high," Knight said in the video. "I will not let the situation define who I am. I will define the situation. I don't want to be consumed by hatred."

Speaking just two months after the end of the ordeal could be considered a positive step forward in their recovery. While physical scars cannot be seen in the video, emotional scars are evident. But so is strength. It can often take much longer for victims to be ready to speak publicly.

It often takes victims of traumatic kidnappings time to speak after their ordeal is over. It's hard to believe that weeks, months or years of horror is over, and that life will return to some sort of normalcy.

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The parents of a young Canadian kidnapping victim in 2011 gratefully thanked the public for its support the same day three-year-old Kienan Hebert was returned safely. Kienan had been missing for four days by the time he was returned. Randall Hopley was arrested and later convicted in the case.

The child's parents were simply glad he was safe. "To the person that returned Kienan safely to our family: I would like to say thank you," father Paul Hebert told CBC News. "It was the right thing to do. I thank God that Kienan was returned unharmed."

In the case of Abby Drover, one of Canada's most infamous kidnapping victims, it was a longer journey back to public life.

Drover was 12 years old when she was abducted in 1976 by her Port Moody, B.C., neighbour and held captive in an underground bunker for six months.

Drover was discovered by police 181 days after she was abducted. She didn't speak publicly until 1997, when she participated in a CBC documentary. Even then, her face wasn't captured on video and she was unforgiving.

"I am still in prison, a prison he created for me," she said, 21 years after the end of her ordeal.

What the three Cleveland kidnapping victims have gone through is horrible, beyond words and even understanding. But that they are ready to speak publicly is a strong indication that they will persevere.

They are grateful for the public's support, which is a good sign they will be ready to rejoin it, sooner rather than later.

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