Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

John Furlong poses in Toronto on Oct. 29, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

A woman who filed a lawsuit alleging former Olympic CEO John Furlong sexually abused her while he was a teacher in Burns Lake, B.C., has dropped the court action.

Beverly Abraham's lawsuit against Furlong was dismissed in B.C. Supreme Court on Friday with no costs to either party, after she asked the court to allow her to withdraw the suit.

Abraham says three of her family members have died recently, including her brother who was like a "twin" to her, and she couldn't handle the stress of the lawsuit on top of her grief.

"A lot was just really heavy on my shoulders. I was going through a lot of stress with this," she said in a phone interview Tuesday.

She says she decided that pulling the lawsuit was the best option for her to move on with her life after consulting with hereditary chiefs from her First Nation.

"I am relieved, it's just like, you know when something weighs you down and its just thousands and thousands of pounds laying on your shoulders? It lifted me up," she said.

"Now I can move on with my life and be happy, and start my grieving for my loved ones that I lost. I never grieved for them because I was thinking too much of the suit."

A statement from Furlong's lawyer said he has always maintained the allegations from Abraham and two other accusers are false, and an RCMP investigation has also concluded Abraham's allegations are not supported.

Furlong still faces lawsuits from Grace Jessie West and an unidentified man, who both allege they were sexually assaulted by Furlong while they were students at Immaculata Roman Catholic elementary school in the late 1960s.

Lawyer Jason Gratl represented both of the claimants but is no longer their counsel. He said no inferences should be drawn from the situation.

Furlong would not comment with respect to the two outstanding claims as they remain before the courts.

The allegations against Furlong surfaced in a 2012 newspaper article written by freelance journalist Laura Robinson that claimed he abused students while teaching in northern B.C. in the late 1960s and 1970s.

Furlong is suing the reporter for libel, while Robinson is suing Furlong for defamation.