The victims of Ariel Castro, three women who were forced to stay captive inside a house in Cleveland, Ohio, for over 10 years, received an award from the state's Governor, John Kasich, who gave them a medal for the "Annual Prize to Bravery", for their courage and perseverance during the difficult situation they lived through.
During a ceremony which took place on the night of Tuesday, Feb. 25, the Governor said that the bravery of 24-year-old Gina de Jesús, 27-year-old Amanda Berry and 33-year-old Michelle Knight, allowed them to survive their kidnapper's tortures.
"Nobody rescued them. They rescued themselves. First, by staying strong, and then by staying together," said Governor Kasich during his speech, minutes before the three women received a standing ovation from state legislators and the public that gathered to celebrate the three survivors, according to The UPI News in its website.
"Despite suffering the worst this world could have thrown at them, they rose above it and came out, not as victims, but as victors," said Kasich, via The Daily News.
In August, 2013, 53 year old Ariel Castro, the so called "Cleveland Kidnapper", who plead guilty to kidnapping and raping three Cleveland, Ohio women for over a decade, was sentenced to life in prison and 1,000 years in prison without the possibility of parole, reported then EFE.
Castro, a Puerto Rican man, faces almost a thousand charges, among which are two for aggravated homicide for allegedly beating one of the kidnapped women until she suffered an abortion. Before hearing his sentence, Castro spoke to the victims and the judge, asked for forgiveness and said that he wasn't "a monster", but that he was "sick".
Last September, Ariel Castro committed suicide in his cell in Cleveland.