BOSTON (AP) -- An anorexic student sued her college Wednesday, seeking readmission after school officials turned her away because of her condition.
Keri Krissik, 20, suffered cardiac arrest while at home in Milford, Conn., in April. She completed her spring semester coursework, but administrators at Stonehill College, a Catholic institution, refused to let her register last fall.
The Rev. Mark Cregan, the university president, said "we don't have the ability to support her in the way she needs to be supported."
"The last time Ms. Krissik was on campus she almost died," said Elise Busny, a lawyer representing the college located in Easton. "There's the risk that she would drop dead on campus."
Krissik, 5-foot-6 and between 97 and 100 pounds, has been anorexic since she was 8. She now has a defibrillator implanted in her heart.
She said she is protected by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
"I'm feeling good and I feel like I can handle the challenges," she said outside federal court.
Krissik's lawyer, Abbe Ross, said her condition had improved and that the school was "only keeping her out because of her disability."
Anorexia nervosa is marked by obsessive fasting. Its effects can range from weight loss to delayed sexual development, heart problems, depression and death.
U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel said she would rule quickly.
