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‘I’m not sorry that it happened to me:’ Elizabeth Smart shares survival story in Youngstown

By Kelcey Norris Mahoning Matters

October 20, 2023 4:00 AM

(left to right) moderators Gerry Ricciutti, Lindsay Watson, Judge Molly Johnson and Elizabeth Smart Kelcey Norris Mahoning Matters

Best-selling author and advocate Elizabeth Smart came to Youngstown to share her story of survival at the DeYor Performing Center for the Arts downtown on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

Judge Molly Johnson and the Mahoning County Bar Association Foundation opened the event to the Youngstown community free of charge.

Sharing her story

Smart began by summarizing what she’s learned since being kidnapped from her bed in 2002 in Salt Lake City at 14 and held for nine months by two people.

“Unfortunately, bad things happen to good people all the time, every day. It doesn’t mean that you deserved it or that you did anything wrong. Sometimes bad things just happen,” said Smart.

Inside the Ford Recital Hall, Smart took listeners back to the night she was taken from her bedroom and dragged into the streets in her neighborhood.

She described despair-filled memories:

“I just remember feeling like “This is it,’” she said. “’[My kidnapper] has this all planned out. This is where the getaway car comes, so even if my parents call the police ... he’s going to take me away and no one will ever find me again. He kept pulling me down, forcing me down on these bushes as this car got closer and closer, and pretty soon, it passed right in front of us. I wondered, ‘Why is it passing in front of us?’ Then I see the word police on the side of the car.

“That could’ve been the difference between being kidnapped nine minutes instead of nine months,” she said.

Smart also shared how she stayed alive, appeasing her kidnappers, and what motivated her to fight for justice.

“Every day, I’m just coming back to making that decision, is this gonna help me stay alive?” she said.

To hear her full story in her words, pick up a copy of one of Smart’s books: My Story and Where There’s Hope: Healing, Moving Forward, and Never Giving Up.

Main messages from Elizabeth Smart

Smart shared some of the biggest lessons she’s learned through her survival journey, from seeking justice in the Utah court system to healing from abuse and shame during the nine months.

“It’s so important to take time to be happy,” she said. “It’s so easy just to fall into that trap of continuing pushing yourself that you never have time to enjoy life and to find happiness. And as I said, everyone has a story. Everyone goes through bad things. And if you don’t take time to have happiness in your life, bad things will come regardless. That makes for a very unbalanced life.”

Smart said the best revenge against anyone who’s hurt you is not to continue to be angry or to forgive immediately. It’s to be happy; that’s what her mom told her after she returned home and as she learned to move on.

“I’m not sorry that it happened to me,” she said.

She has started the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, a sexual assault education, advocacy, and empowerment program for women.

Learn more about the foundation and programs like self-defense classes and advocacy for victims of violence and assault.