Olivia Cowan is a married mother of two beautiful young girls. She is also one of about 150 women who was sexually abused by Dr. Larry Nassar.
Last week-- she traveled from her home in Shorewood to Michigan to testify against him.
"I have cried more nights than not," she said in court. "And I have experienced flashback nightmares of the abuse."
Cowan met Nassar more than a decade ago when she was just 13 years old. She was a gymnast with a severe back injury.
"There's nothing that you can prepare to be standing in front of somebody that you trusted whole heatedly," she told NBC 5.
Cowan says she has been numb since the case began.
"My deepest pain and fear was the thought of my two daughters ever being hurt like this," she said in court last week.
Local
But she has found strength in those around her.
"It was so empowering for us to come together and world hear our words finally," she said. "As of today, I have such relief."
Olivia wanted to be in the courtroom Wednesday when Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison, but bad weather kept her from making the trip.
Instead she watched a livestream of the sentencing on her phone. The distance, she said, did not change the impact.
"It was just the best feeling," she said the moment Nassar was sentenced. "It was closure for me and for a lot of families around the world."
While Cowan says Wednesday's sentencing brought closure--she knows there is a long road ahead.
She said she wants to see change in the way society reacts to those who have been abused.
She is also part of a civil case that names Michigan State University, USA Gymnastics and Nassar.
