SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – Many are marveling over how well Elizabeth Smart is doing after all she has been through.
“Today is the end of a very long chapter, and the beginning of a very beautiful chapter for me,” Smart told reporters on Wednesday.
Standing tall, confident and poised, a smiling Smart appeared empowered after speaking directly to her tormentor, Brian David Mitchell, in court.
“I told Brian David Mitchell that whether he received his just sentence here on earth or one day after this earth life, one day he will have to be responsible for his actions,” said Smart.
Local child psychologist Douglas Goldsmith says there’s an inner strength and resilience in Elizabeth that’s obvious.
“Victims of trauma can absolutely rise above the trauma, and a key component that we know is the support system that surrounds them,” said Goldsmith.
Elizabeth comes from a strong, close family, and from a community that rallied around her.
“It’s all about relationships and the security of knowing I can share my thoughts with you. I can have them validated, and I suspect a lot of that has happened for Elizabeth along the way which has helped her become the great woman that she has become,” said Goldsmith.
She’s a woman who has overcome a devastating past, but it’s a past she refuses to let dictate her future. Before walking away from her rapist for good, she left him with these parting words, “I want you to know I have a beautiful life now.”
“I was happy for the opportunity to say what I felt I needed to say, and I am thrilled it’s over,” said Smart.
