Escaped kidnap victim:

Shackled and subjected to daily sexual assault, kidnap victim Michelle Knight dreamed about the moment she would finally be free to love – even designing her fantasy wedding dress

“I got married in a dress I designed in my hideous dungeon”

Five years ago, F Michelle Knight, then 32, escaped from a ramshackle Cleveland home, following 11 years of imprisonment at the hands of a monster. Locked in a basement, she was repeatedly raped by school bus driver Ariel Castro. She fell pregnant five times – but was starved and beaten until she miscarried.

Finally, however, Michelle is putting the harrowing ordeal behind her. In June 2014, she met Miguel Rodriquez, 39, through mutual friends on Facebook. And in May 2016 – on the third anniversary of her release – they got married.

Michelle says, “There were times in that basement when I wanted to kill myself. I was almost always in chains, even on the rare occasion I was allowed to take a shower. But now I live for every single day. Even horror stories can have a fairy-tale ending.”

TORTURED

Michelle went missing on 22 August 2002, aged 21. She had been on her way to a foster care appointment in an attempt to win back custody of her two-year-old son, Joey. She’d approached Castro – the father of a friend – at a supermarket to ask for directions. He’d offered her a lift, but said he needed to stop by his house. He then asked if she’d like to come inside to see his new puppy.

Michelle says, “When I walked into the house, he slammed the door shut. Suddenly, he dragged me to an upstairs bedroom. The windows were nailed shut, and Castro tied me to the wall with an extension lead, before masturbating over me. Then he gagged me and left. I remember thinking this was it – this is where I was going to die.”

Michelle was later moved to a basement dungeon, where she was joined by two other victims, Amanda Berry, 16, and Gina Dejesus, 14. They were banned from washing and were forced to go to the toilet in a bucket. While Michelle’s family filed a missing persons’ report, they assumed she’d run away after her son Joey was taken into care.

She says, “Amanda, Gina and I helped each other as much as we could by making jokes and telling each other stories. But Castro subjected us all to these vile mind games – he’d mark the anniversaries of our abductions by serving us cake.”

Michelle took refuge in her vivid imagination. She explains, “Castro gave me a drawing pad and a pencil, and I began sketching. I’d draw the ocean, trees, sunsets. I even designed a wedding dress, and fantasised about wearing it one day.”

ESCAPE

In April 2006, Michelle’s fellow prisoner, Amanda, became pregnant and was allowed to keep her baby. Michelle even helped her deliver the baby girl in a paddling pool. Then, on 6 May 2013, Amanda realised that Castro hadn’t locked the door to the basement, and ran to get help.

Michelle and Gina were freed the same day, and Castro was arrested. He later pleaded guilty to 937 criminal counts of rape, kidnapping and aggravated murder. Sentenced to life in prison, plus 1,000 years, Castro killed himself just one month into his sentence.

For Michelle, the court case was just her first step in adjusting to the outside world.

She decided against contacting her son, then 13. She explains, “I was desperate to see him, but in the end it felt wrong to make contact. He didn’t even know me. He was in a loving, safe home, and I felt I shouldn’t take that away from him.”

Instead, Michelle focused on starting a new life. She changed her name to Lily, her favourite flower, and began to make friends again. “I carried on drawing because it was still so therapeutic. It was strange to actually be free and do what I wanted – that took a while to sink in.”

Then, in the summer of 2014, Michelle – now Lily – met Miguel, a courier. Michelle said, “By then, I was learning how to trust people, so I knew that, if we took it slow, I could have a solid relationship with someone. I wanted Miguel to get to know me first, so I didn’t tell him about my past. We chatted for weeks online before meeting in person, and even then, it was six months until we were physically intimate.

“After years of abuse, it was an emotional hurdle, but I had nothing to fear because it was so different – this was sex between two people who loved each other. That’s when I knew I could tell him about Castro.

“He hugged me and told me he was going to keep me safe. I think I fell in love with him even more that day.”

In December 2015, Miguel proposed. “It was when we started wedding planning that I’d remembered my sketches – the ones I’d done in captivity. I used the drawings of my wedding dress as the design for the real thing. Every little detail was there, right down to the satin train and the lilies on the bodice.”

HOPE

Lily and Miguel were married in a church ceremony in Elyria, Ohio, in May 2016. “It was even more beautiful than I’d imagined in that hideous basement,” says Lily, now 36. “Castro had told me many times that no man would ever want me. It was the best feeling in the world to prove him wrong.”

Lily’s traumatic experiences haven’t stopped her spreading a message of hope.

She says. “I use what happened to me to help others. I give talks, and I’m setting up my charity, The Lily’s Ray Of Hope Foundation, to help victims of abuse, human trafficking and violence in the home.

“Getting married was always just a fantasy – something I was convinced would never happen – but now it’s a reality I will never tire of. Despite everything I’ve been through, I feel incredibly lucky. I’m free, I’m in love, and living the life I once could only dream about.”

❛MIGUEL SAID HE’D KEEP ME SAFE… I FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM EVEN MORE❜

● Life After Darkness: Finding Healing And Happiness After The Cleveland Kidnappings (Hachette Books, £18.99) by Michelle Knight is out now