CLEVELAND Ohio is a long way from Dorset. But even at this distance it’s impossible not to feel joy of Biblical proportions over the release of those three young women, from a decade of captivity.

By the time you read this we will know a lot more about how Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight allegedly suffered at the hands of Ariel Castro, named as the monster who abducted and kept them as sex slaves.

We’ve already heard reports about alleged beatings, chains and maltreatment, horrible rumours of dead babies, and I suspect that everything else we learn about this story will strain our faith in human nature.

But that image of Amanda, fresh-faced as the day she disappeared, now embracing her sister and her daughter, Jocelyn, who was born in the house of horror, tells you everything you need to know about human spirit.

It was Amanda who courageously managed to attract the attention of neighbour, Charles Ramsey, and she who summoned the police to rescue her fellow prisoners.

I can’t stop thinking about her; about her bravery and presence of mind when most of us would probably have lost the plot.

How did she keep going all that time? How, despite everything, did she manage to make a home for her little girl; home-school her, even? How did she stay sane?

If there is a clue, it’s in the behaviour of her own mother, Louwana Miller, who never stopped believing her child would be found.

According to a local journalist who befriended Mrs Miller, Louwana held vigils, nagged the local papers and occasionally lost her temper when she felt that not enough was being done.

Sadly Louwana died in 2006 of what her friend Dona Brady described as: “A broken heart.”

But in her daughter’s tenacity, in her strength, in her ability to keep on going and to seize her chance when it came, Louwana’s indomitable spirit lives on and it will surely provide an unbreakable bond between the late grandmother, her daughter and the grand-daughter she never knew.

Amanda is the living proof that a mother’s love never dies, it just stays inside you until you need it, but there are a whole bunch of lessons for everyone to learn from this grotesque story.

The first is that we may be happy to keep up with the Kardashians and every cough and sniff in the Big Brother House, or whatever trivial reality TV show we’re watching but really, we’d do better keeping an eye on things closer to home.

Another lesson is the one pointed out by FBI agent, Steve Anthony, who was involved with the rescue. “These three young ladies have provided us with the ultimate definition of survival and perseverance,” he said, adding: “Yes, law enforcement professionals do cry.”

I bet. It seems rude not to join in. And that’s why I don’t really agree with those mental health professionals who are cautioning about the women’s future.

Of course it will be tough when the initial euphoria evaporates and they reflect on the enormity of what has happened.

But I reckon that they have done the hard bit. Now it’s time for the professionals to help them to enjoy all the pleasures life has to offer; sunshine, clean clothes, nice food, hot showers, blue skies, fresh air, laughter, and the company of those who love them.

I wish them all the joy in the world for the rest of their lives.