That Amanda Berry managed to survive her captivity for a full decade — even giving birth to her daughter during her ordeal — is amazing enough on its own. It wasn’t without good reason that, following their dramatic escape in 2013, Berry and her fellow captives, Gina de Jesus and Michelle Knight, went from the darkness of their captor’s basement to the glare of international headlines overnight.
Understandably, Berry largely kept a low profile in the years after their escape. But that doesn’t mean she hasn’t been busy, as she has turned to helping others in the position she was once in, and for that, she’s in the headlines once again.
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Transitioning back to her normal life was tough for Berry.
After she was abducted in 2003, Berry’s mother received a call from her captor, saying that Amanda would be back home “in a couple of days.” Sadly, Berry’s mother never saw her again — she passed away in 2006, never having given up hope.
Without that support and with considerable trauma, Berry found it hard to function. “In the beginning, I was so scared to do anything,” Berry told Good Morning America . “I was really scared to leave the house and you know, being noticed. But now I just feel like I take it more as a blessing that I am on this side and that I am blessed enough to be able to help and I can finally use my voice for good.”
Now, she’s an advocate for missing persons.
She even joined forces with local TV station Fox 8 in Cleveland in 2017, where she hosts a segment that details missing people in hopes that viewers can help authorities find them.
Berry is also helping authorities off-camera, as she has linked up with the U.S. Marshals Service in Ohio as part of their Operation Safety Net initiative — and it’s been a successful partnership so far, with the initiative rescuing 57 children since August, Cleveland.com reported.
And the Marshals don’t discount Berry’s contribution to the effort.
“She has a passion, the love, the drive, she cares about finding the missing because she doesn’t want another little girl to go through what she went through in life,” U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott told Cleveland.com. “It’s been very, very good. We’re very, very proud of her, and we’re very proud of her partnership.”
“One of the biggest reasons Operation Safety net was a success was Amanda Berry,” Elliott told Good Morning America. “She is a great example for Cleveland, Ohio, where you fight and you never quit and that’s what she does. We’re doing this all over the country and we’re gonna try to bring back every single kid that we can, together with Amanda Berry.”
The Marshals also asked Berry to record a message to be played during training sessions for those working missing persons cases.
“I could have easily fallen through the cracks if it hadn’t been for my mom, who spent day and night trying to get law enforcement to take my case seriously,” Berry says in the message, Fox 8 reported. “But not everyone has a mom as persistent as mine. So please, that’s where you come in. I need you to think of every single case as if it’s your own child.
“You can be that one person my mom needed. The one there fighting alongside her. The one who never gave up. Thank you to the U.S. Marshals, Deputy Marshals and their partners. I hope you never give up. My mom and I never did.”
Berry still credits her mother for her continued successes.
“I push every day more and more for my mother. She fought so hard for me while I was gone, and I think now, I’m trying to finish kind of what she started for the missing,” she told Good Morning America.
“In the beginning, there was nobody to call, there wasn’t someone there to help you print your missing posters of your child. So you know, a lot has changed since 2003 and I’m just glad that I can be here and continue my mom’s work.”
Berry also says that those with missing people in their lives shouldn’t give up hope because of initiatives like Operation Safety Net.
“I definitely hope that they know that miracles can happen,” she told Good Morning America. “I know it’s not always easy to you know, years after year, some parents have to go through waiting for their child to come home, but hopefully they take it more serious, that I am involved. I hope that I’m a beacon of hope for them.”
h/t: Good Morning America , Cleveland.com , Fox 8
