Elizabeth Smart continued her nationwide speaking tour in Santa Rosa, California, on Monday night.
Smart, a Utah native who was kidnapped when she was 14, recounted her tale to an audience of about 400 people for the Sonoma County Women in Conversation series, according to The Press Democrat.
She said it was the love of her mother that saved her.
“You will always be my daughter,” Smart said, repeating what she said were her mother’s words. “Nothing can ever change that.”
Smart said she never gave up while she was in captivity, knowing her family waited for her elsewhere.
“I decided I would do whatever it took to survive,” she said.
Read more about her speech at The Press Democrat, and read some quotes from the speech below.
Smart also spoke at the University of North Texas last week. She posted a photo on Instagram of herself with a pair of police officers following her speech there.
“It's always great to be surrounded by nice officers! Thank you @unt excited to be here and speaking tonight,” she wrote in the post.
Smart’s appreciation comes after a man allegedly tried to approach Smart with a knife during a speech at Indiana State University, according to WTHI-TV, a CBS news affiliate.
A police officer said he noticed Claude Hudson, 80, approaching Smart with a knife, so he intervened, WTHI-TV reported.
He was charged with punching an ISU police officer, too.
Smart’s spokesperson released a statement that she said she “is grateful for law enforcement and Indiana State University’s quick response and that the event and her work continued undeterred,” according to WTHI.