A champion Chinese gymnast paralyzed in an accident at the 1998 Goodwill Games filed a $1.8 billion lawsuit against the former AOL Time Warner Inc. media and entertainment company and the U.S. Gymnastics Federation on Thursday, saying they and others broke promises to care for her afterward.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Manhattan by lawyers for Sang Lan, who broke her neck during a warm-up vault at the games in New York.
Her lawyers say her condition has deteriorated because the company, now called Time Warner, and the gymnastics organization failed to follow through on promises to make sure her medical bills and other needs were covered. The lawsuit says she has been unable to obtain necessary treatments.
Time Warner spokeswoman Mallory Zalkin said she had no comment on behalf of the company. A spokeswoman for the Indianapolis-based gymnastics foundation, Leslie King, said the group had no immediate comment.
The lawsuit said Lan was left paralyzed from the mid-chest down after she fractured and dislocated two vertebrae and injured her spinal cord when someone walked into the vault area after she pushed off from the vault and removed a mat before she landed. It noted that celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio, Celine Dion and Christopher Reeve visited her and offered support after the accident. Then-Vice President Al Gore and his family visited her in the hospital.
The lawsuit said Lan, 29, has become a celebrity and an advocate for the disabled in China.
Yet, the lawsuit added, Lan has been victimized recently by two Chinese-Americans who were appointed as her legal guardians after the accident over the objections of her parents by the Chinese Gymnastics Association. It said that she has been subjected to a propaganda campaign to smear her good name and that the two people have been in control of her medical treatments and connections with American doctors.
"Living in China for the past 13 years, Ms. Lan was literally unable to sue in an American court or Chinese court," the lawsuit said, noting her restrictive living conditions. "Ms. Lan has been struggling for the past 13 years in China, without proper medical insurance coverage, without a penny compensatory damage for her fatal (sic) permanent injury, without freedom or recourse to seek justice."
