One of the officers who entered Ariel Castro’s house of hell described how Michelle Knight, the oldest kidnap victim, threw herself into the officer’s arms when she realized she was being rescued.

“Michelle hugged me first, then clutched me and said, ‘Don’t let me go,'” said Officer Barbara Johnson according a report by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “You can’t really describe how I felt…it rips the heart out of my chest.”

Johnson said she spent several hours with Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus at a Cleveland hospital trying to comfort them after the dramatic rescue, the emotional officer said during a news conference Wednesday night.

Castro is being held on $8 million bond.

“You try and forget about this, but you can’t ever forget something like this,” Johnson said.

Yesterday, it was revealed that Knight and DeJesus suffered injuries similar to a prisoner of war camp, including severe malnutrition and will require long-term therapy for hearing loss and joint and muscle damage.

The basement where the women were held had chains coming from the wall, and dog leashes attached to the ceiling, sources told Reuters. The women were restrained with them and duct tape in “stress positions” for long periods that left them with bed sores and other injuries, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the investigation, who asked not to be identified.

Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were in worse condition than Amanda Berry when they emerged from at least nine years in captivity at the home of Ariel Castro, accused of kidnapping and raping the women. Castro appeared to treat Berry better than the other two, the sources said.

“There is a reason why you have only seen a picture of Amanda (Berry),” said one of the sources, referring to the condition of DeJesus and Knight.

The women were discovered when Amanda Berry flagged down a neighbor to break down the locked front door and was able to call 911.

The sources said DeJesus and Knight were gaunt and had closely cropped hair when they were freed.

One of the sources, who has been in the house, said the basement had chains coming from the walls and “dog leashes attached to the ceiling.” Knight and DeJesus told police they spent extensive time in the basement. A second source corroborated the details.

“One of the girls has difficulty moving her head around from being chained up,” said one of the sources. The second source identified DeJesus as the woman suffering this injury.

“It was like they were POWs (prisoners of war). They had bed sores from being left in positions for extended lengths of time,” a source said.

With Reuters