'Sister survivors' epitomize meaning of courage | 2018 ESPYS | ESPN

it didn't take me very long to consider coming forward in telling my story realizing who this man was and who he had access to you I knew I wasn't only carrying myself I was going to be carrying a lot of other women and young girls with me and I needed to do it I wanted to do it before it all came to light their world looked like it was supposed to bright young athletes epitomizing those ideals of sport discipline determination and perfection but in the shadows alongside it all a dangerous culture emerged a culture where no one wanted to stand in the way of victories and gold where abuse went unquestioned and athletes were disposable and where a pedophile like Larry Nasser could exploit his standing and reputation as a doctor preying on young children's trust and wielding it against them he was Larry Nasser he worked with Olympians so right away I felt like wow this is such a privilege [Music] he would have us take our leotards off and be facedown on a treatment table and that's how this began I believe I was either 12 or 13 years old it was after my 13th birthday 24 years old he started doing this weird treatment so-called treatment in order to loosen up the muscles in my back to help make my pain go away he had a back injury and he was the guy to see he had been doing it for so many years MSU and my own J every time at the Red John at his gym and at the Olympics he started putting his fingers inside without gloves eight year old nine year old ten year old on my bed in my hotel room internally fixing my tailbone okay this must be the treatment that's gonna help me so it was something that I just dealt with I was treated with a chi or like a towel over my using lotion on his I told him to stop and he hid in the corner while he calmed down Larry was shameless very brazen he was very practiced he was allowed to do any treatments he wanted three to four times a week mice a day in four days at least an hour and I have every time I went every single tells you times a week from when I was 10 to 20 I reported in 1997 when I was 16 years old I was told that I must be misunderstanding his hands will get close to certain areas but they are never inappropriate I said well that's not what is happening to me the disturbing thing is had somebody done the right thing hundreds of girls could have been speared [Music] abuse silence victory abuse silence victory the cycle was repeated over and over for generations but finally in 2016 it was disrupted starting with an Indiana newspaper followed by one woman coming forward then another then more I spent those years just hoping that I was the only one but how could I be dr. Larry Nasser was arrested yesterday in Indiana dr. Larry Nassau has been charged with three counts of sex dr. pleaded guilty to sexually abusing young gymnasts while claiming to treat their injuries I was greeted by an image a mugshot of Nassau on the television screen I knew instantly that what I had thought was extremely inappropriate was real that moment like I'll never forget that moment like that's when my life really started to like move again after years and for some decades their silence finally ended this past January there in a Michigan courtroom they came together and reclaimed their voice no longer alone in their fight Honorable Judge echo Lina first I would like to think I felt like I was taking back that 16 year old that was stolen her innocence my innocence I was taking that back Larry today I'm speaking to you as my 10 year old self I should have never met the sad excuse for a man stole my innocence for me I can't even put into words how much I hate you how dare you ask any of us for forgive us estatic to think that anyone would have any sympathy for times up no longer this army you have created this army doesn't have a white flag to wave but even though I'm a victim I do not and will not live my life as one I'm an Olympian Larry this group of women you so heartlessly abused over such a long period of time are now a force and you are nothing it became something so much bigger as the days went on the momentum built and the country the world started listening to our survivors we are jane doe's no more [Music] all of those years of questioning myself and my own word were over I wasn't a victim anymore I was a survivor and I had an army of survivors behind me - I believe in individualized sentencing I follow the Constitution and I believe our sister Ward's I also believe these survivors [Music] I'm speaking up today for the first time publicly in order to honor my two-year-old daughter and to be able to show her that her mom was brave and that her mom stood up if we have to walk this journey to make sure that no other little girl has to walk this journey then that's exactly what we're going to do [Music] [Applause] Jordyn Wieber survived Tiffany Thomas Lopez survivor Lindsey Lemke Jamie dancer and sterling ring high larceny Nicolas Larissa voice survive survive Survivor survivor survivor Rachel done Hollander surviving more than 300 survivors have come forward with likely hundreds more out there they've sent their abuser away for life and now it's about shining a light on the institutions that enabled him it's a crusade a movement seeking justice for the unprotected and their work has only just begun [Music] know that there was adults out there that didn't want to protect me it just breaks my heart and I'm standing up for the little girl that was inside of me that didn't feel like she had a voice because now when the adult and I can make a difference and I'm going to [Music]

Channel: ESPN

Views: 96,795

Rating: 4.8221593 out of 5

Keywords: espn, espn live, larry nassar, arthur ashe award, arthur ashe award 2018, larry nassar sentencing, michigan state police, michigan state gymnastics, michigan state survivors, sexual abuse, sexual abuse signs, sexual abuse recovery, victims of sexual abuse speak out, arthur ashe award 2018 espn, espys, espn espys, espn espys 2018, espys live, sister surviors, usa gymnastics

Id: kfu7AkuFvXE

Length: 9min 22sec (562 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 18 2018