LANSING, Mich. (WOOD) — Dr. Elisabeth Ostendorf's lawsuit and struggle with Michigan State University's insurance company paints a telling picture of what could await the women who are suing the university over the way it handled complaints against convicted molester Larry Nassar.
Ostendorf was run over by a university vehicle driven by a student employee in October 2014. She was later awarded millions in a civil lawsuit, but has yet to see a penny.
Target 8 met Ostendorf, her boyfriend and her attorney at the Lansing rehabilitation facility she now lives at. She was previously a biochemist who moved from Germany to conduct research at the MSU Plant Biology Laboratory.
The details of the accident are gruesome. Ostendorf was walking on campus when the truck backed up into her.
"She sees him at the last minute and she tries to get out of the way," attorney George Sinas described. "She moves to her right and he just continues to back and knocks her over and she falls to the pavement and then the rear wheels of the truck run over her head."
Doctors didn't believe Ostendorf would survive. Though she has made impressive progress, she is now confined to a wheelchair and struggles to speak. When Target 8 asked her what has been the most difficult obstacle for her, she spoke and slowly and clearly as she could.
"I think it's accepting that my life plan changed," she said.
FULL STORY: WOOD TV