To hear the survivors of Larry Nassar
The pain of feeling like I should have known something was wrong, should have been smarter than to think that was okay is unfathomable and embarrassing. What you’ve done is unforgivable. Not only did you hurt me, but you also hurt my mother.
You did not only ruin me and change the trajectory of my life in an irreparable way, Mr. Nassar, not only did you violate a 15 year old who embodied the utmost innocence, you ruined my family. They sacrificed everything — everything to make my dreams come true.
Larry, I trusted you. I believed you were a kind person. I believed you were on my side. I thought you cared about me and my well-being. In the end, you turned out to be the scariest monster of all.
I question how a man with such a gift of healing who had the potential to do such good could abuse his knowledge of medicine and power in the worst way. These are the long-lasting questions and concerns that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I feel that by coming forward we victims of Doctor Nassar can help see that justice is served and save other innocent people from the pain and abuse we faced.
When news first broke I felt like I had been hit by a bus. Feelings of shame and anger and sadness all came rushing in as I had to find out that for those seven years what he was doing to me was abuse.
As a scared, insecure teenager it was easy to say I was injured and unable to do gymnastics, but now 11 years later as a strong, brave woman, I am ready to tell the truth. It was Larry. Larry Nassar, you stole my sparkle.
In January 2017, my senior year, I decided that my years in the sport needed to come to an end. People asked me if he was the reason. At first I denied it. It wasn’t him, it was my injuries. But now I hold that pain and anger inside of me when realizing the reality. I did quit because of you.
You supported me, gave me gifts, and were going to help with my injuries whenever, even pushing your own family aside. I thought you were doing it for me. I thought you were a good person. I thought I could trust you, but I was wrong.
I’ve been wrestling with, denying, and trying to stifle everything that had happened to me for the past year, and I’ve decided that it’s impossible to keep it to myself anymore. This past week has been the hardest of my entire life, but listening to so many other strong women speak out has inspired me to do the same.
I hope after all this is done that we, all the amazingly strong survivors, can have some peace knowing that Larry inmate Nassar will be locked away and not able to hurt anyone anymore.
