The right thing: Confronting my abuser

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 31 October 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

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Summary

***This programme contains references to sexual abuse which some listeners may find upsetting*** For decades, Larry Nassar was the doctor for the women’s Olympic Gymnastics team and also treated athletes at Michigan State University. He was the go-to practitioner for sports related injuries but saw many women and girls outside of the sport as well. Rachael Denhollander was a teenager when she went to see Larry Nassar for treatment. She had been a gymnast as a child, and she and her mother believed Nassar would be giving her pelvic floor therapy for an injury. They soon realised this was not the case, but felt unable to challenge someone who was so revered by the sports establishment. Mike Wooldridge hears how Rachael’s decision to do the right thing and publicly tell her story, at great personal cost, led to over 200 women revealing abuse by Larry Nassar. He finds out how her Christian faith was challenged as the story and trial became international news, how she decided to forgive her abuser and how she now works with survivors of sexual abuse in churches in the USA.

If you are affected by anything you hear in this programme, it is important to talk to someone about it and get support. Talking can help to see a way through things, whether this is with a family member, friends, a doctor, or a support organisation. You can find help by visiting the Befrienders Worldwide website: befrienders.org.

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:05.7	This programme contains references to sexual abuse, which some listeners may find upsetting.
0:13.4	In 2018, the eminent sports doctor Larry Nassas,'s fall from grace, made headlines around the world.
0:20.7	The former USA Olympic gymnastics sports doctor Larry Nasserah's fall from grace made headlines around the world.
0:27.0	The former USA Olympic gymnastics sports doctor Larry Nasser has pleaded guilty to seven charges of sexual assault against women and girls in his care.
0:30.1	It was part of the plea deal he could face at least 25 years in prison.
0:35.7	One of the gymnasts he treated was Rachel Denhollander.
0:39.4	When I went to see Larry, what I now know is that when I walked in his door, I immediately
0:43.3	became his next victim.
0:44.7	By the time NASA was sentenced to decades in prison, more than 200 others also said they'd been
0:51.3	abused by him.
0:53.4	But Rachel was the first person to publicly accuse him of sexual abuse
0:57.0	in a move that would cost her dearly.
1:00.0	It was the reality that I never get to be a private person again.
1:05.0	The reality that I will probably become a very hated person in this country.
1:09.0	It has changed our lives permanently forever,
1:12.1	and the impact on my kids and my family will be forever. I'm Mike Waldridge, and this is the
1:17.6	documentary from the BBC World Service. I'm bringing you the second part in the latest of my
1:23.5	occasional heart and soul series, The Right Thing. We'll meet Rachel Den Hollander
1:28.5	and hear how her deep Christian faith affected her choice to reveal her abuse.
1:35.0	I had wrestled very deeply with those questions. Where was God in this? Is there a God? Does he care?
1:42.2	And we ask whether she now thinks accusing Larry Nasser of sexual assault
	...

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