Chelsea Markham
Chelsea Markham
Chelsea Markham (1985-2009) was a former gymnast and resident of Michigan. She was one of the hundreds of victims who was sexually abused by former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics national team doctor Larry Nassar.
Early Life
Chelsea was born in South Korea. She moved to the United States after being adopted by her parents; her mother's name is Donna Markham. According to Donna, she received a call from her social worker and wanted to know if Chelsea's soon-to-be-parents were willing to take a baby with medical issues.
When her parents picked her up from the airport, she had a fractured skull and damage in both ears; she was delivered in a hospital using forceps and required several surgeries.
Chelsea grew up on the east side of Michigan near Roosevelt.
Life & Activities
During her childhood, Donna enrolled her into a gymnastics program at the Artistic Gymnastics Academy. She grew up loving it, showing up more as frequently as 6 times a week. Eventually, she made the gymnastics team and competed in the Teen division.
Donna Markham, Chelsea's mother, recalls when the two would watch movies together.
They would go to the cinema and stay there all day watching different films and only paying for one.
Larry Nassar Incident
Sexual Abuse
Donna Markham reads a victim statement on behalf of her daughter, Chelsea, at Larry Nassar's sentencing hearing (begins at 38:34)
In 1995, when she was 10 years old, while training for the gymnastics team, Markham took a fall of a balance beam, injuring her lower back. Her gymnastics coach referred her to Larry Nassar. According to her mother's testimony in court, Markham saw Nassar until she was 12 years old.
One day, after one of her examinations, her mother asked if she wanted to get lunch as they do after every exam.
Chelsea said that she "just [wanted] to go home."
After her mother asked her what's wrong, she repeated that "just [wanted] to go home."
According to Donna Markham's testimony on January 16, 2018, Chelsea started bawling and said that Larry Nassar "put his fingers in [her] and they weren't gloved," and that "he hurt [her]."
When Donna attempted to drive back and confront Larry, Chelsea begged her mother not to go.
Aftermath
When she was 13 years old, Chelsea attended a meet in Lansing. She saw Larry Nassar there and fell off of every apparatus. She told her mother that she gets flashbacks of what happened in his office every time she sees him.
The following year, she quit gymnastics.
She eventually suffered through depression and started doing drugs.
In March 2009, at the age of 23, she took her own life.