--- description: "Looking forward to happiness, a future, a life I never had" title: Kidnapping Victim Michelle Knight Celebrates Two Years of Freedom image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75c8c2b3852cc8b8/6987eef03c16390676455ea5/ap883142430639-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Michelle Knight Celebrates 2 Years of Freedom After Decade of Captivity by [Tierney McAfee / People](/author/people/) ## Tierney McAfee / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 8, 2015 3:16 PM CUT  Michelle Knight smiles during an interview in Cleveland on June 26, 2014. Michelle Knight smiles during an interview in Cleveland on June 26, 2014.Tony Dejak—AP by [Tierney McAfee / People](/author/people/) ## Tierney McAfee / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 8, 2015 3:16 PM CUT Two years to the day after her escape from the Cleveland house of horrors of [Ariel Castro](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:ArielCastro,00.html "undefined"), [Michelle Knight](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:MichelleKnight,00.html "undefined") has finally “conquered” her fears. “This morning I thought, it’s amazing to wake up and not feel like I’m being tortured,” Knight told [Fox 8 Cleveland](http://fox8.com/2015/05/06/looking-forward-to-happiness-michelle-knight-marks-2-years-of-freedom-after-decade-of-captivity/ "undefined") on Wednesday, the two-year anniversary of her freedom. Knight – along with fellow victims [Gina DeJesus](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:GinaDeJesus,00.html "undefined") and [Amanda Berry](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:AmandaBerry,00.html "undefined")– was held hostage by Castro for about a decade, enduring [psychological, emotional and sexual abuse](http://www.people.com/article/amanda-berry-gina-dejesus-memoir-book-kidnapping-ariel-castro "undefined"). After the women and Berry’s daughter escaped on May 6, 2013, Castro was arrested and sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years after pleading guilty to 937 counts of rape, kidnapping and aggravated murder. He committed suicide one month into his sentence. Now Knight says she is finally “looking forward to happiness, a future, a life I never had. And for two years of my life I was finally able to live.” She also revealed that she has a new boyfriend. “He’s such an amazing person. He’s sweet-hearted. He’s right there with me all the time and he supports everything that I do.” Though she has finally [begun to heal](http://www.people.com/article/michelle-knight-memoir-exclusive-excerpt "undefined"), Knight still draws from her experiences in captivity in order to help others who are suffering. She just finished writing a new song called “Survivor” and is also hoping to write a second book. “It’s going to be about my future and how I triumphed against everything that happened to me and everything that was holding me down; my fears and how I conquered them, because it’s really hard,” she said. Knight released her first book, _Finding Me_, last year, and Berry and DeJesus released their joint book _Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland_ last month. (Knight told PEOPLE last year that she [parted ways](http://www.people.com/article/michelle-knight-cleveland-kidnapping-victim-shares-story-of-survival "undefined") with her fellow captors to help with the healing process. “I love them and they love me. Hopefully we’ll all get back together again.”) Knight also worked closely with some of the cast and crew of _Cleveland Abduction_, a Lifetime original movie about her that aired last weekend. “I had to dig pretty deep to let my emotions go into this movie,” she said. “Because I wanted to give the world something to have hope, courage and strength and know that amongst all the darkness, you can still rise above all that.” Knight is also considering going to school to become a therapist. “God definitely had a purpose for my life, and it’s definitely helping people,” she said. _This_ [_article_](http://www.people.com/article/michelle-knight-boyfriend-two-years-escape-ariel-castro "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://www.people.com "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3851790/michelle-knight-freedom-story/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3851790/michelle-knight-freedom-story/"},"headline":"Michelle Knight Celebrates 2 Years of Freedom After Decade of Captivity","datePublished":"2015-05-08T15:16:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:03:18.610Z","description":"\"Looking forward to happiness, a future, a life I never had\"","url":"https://time.com/3851790/michelle-knight-freedom-story/","keywords":["Crime","abuse","People"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75c8c2b3852cc8b8/6987eef03c16390676455ea5/ap883142430639-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tierney McAfee / People"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75c8c2b3852cc8b8/6987eef03c16390676455ea5/ap883142430639-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Michelle Knight smiles during an interview in Cleveland on June 26, 2014.","caption":"Michelle Knight smiles during an interview in Cleveland on June 26, 2014.","creditText":"Tony Dejak—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3851790/michelle-knight-freedom-story/","name":"Michelle Knight Celebrates 2 Years of Freedom After Decade of Captivity"}}]}] ```