Cleveland viral video star Charles Ramsey reflects on rescuing kidnapped women one year ago

Screenshot/WKYC

Cleveland viral video star Charles Ramsey reflects on rescuing kidnapped women one year ago
(Image credit: Screenshot/WKYC)

Charles Ramsey became an overnight sensation on May 6, 2013, when a video of the Cleveland resident describing the rescue of Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus from Ariel Castro's house of terror went viral. Ramsey discussed the afternoon in detail, from what he was eating (McDonald's) to how it felt when Berry came looking for help ("Bro, I knew something was wrong when a pretty little white girl ran into a black man's arms. Something is wrong here... dead giveaway.").

A year later, Ramsey is back, having spent the past 12 months reflecting on that fateful day and writing a book (the aptly titled Dead Giveaway). In an interview with WKYC's Russ Mitchell, Ramsey said that while "everyone wants to be in the limelight for some reason... to see my face plastered on national TV all over the place, and my name ringing throughout the city of Cleveland, for a good deed of course, that's overwhelming. I'm still having a hard time taking it in."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.