“She’s still different and she always will be”
The mother of Cleo Smith has given an update on how her daughter is coping.
During a televised interview on Nine’s 60 Minutes, Ellie Smith said her daughter has a long way to go.
The mum spoke out about her daughter’s horrifying abduction and said Cleo is always going to be “different” now.
“She was locked in a room and she was scared and she didn’t know where we were.
“She’s blocked out a lot as to what’s happened. She kind of went into survivor mode and pushed it very far away,” she shared.
Cleo’s mum said she is happy and bubbly, but she is also sad and angry.
“But she’s getting there,” she added.
The family is taking things day by day, but they’re planning on moving away from Carnarvon for a fresh start.
Ellie said, “Hopefully, we find somewhere that is pretty similar to what we love and what we do. We don’t want to let go of everything that we are and who we are.”
36-year-old Terence Darrell Kelly has pleaded guilty to abducting Cleo. The young girl was found on her own in a house just minutes from her family home. She had been missing for 18 days.
Since returning to her family home, Ellie said Cleo has faced many struggles.
Her mum said Cleo doesn’t like closed doors and she needs to sleep with the lights on.
She has also woken up screaming and is having “nightmare after nightmare”.
“We’ve got a long way to go and so does she.”
Speaking of the kidnapper, her mum said they still don’t know the full story.
“I don’t think we really know what his intentions were. I don’t know if he even knew what his intentions were going to be.”
