Format of file unkown, can not open

[Hunterhound]

Short version: File created with Open Office Writer 3.0 and saved to an external usb drive. An attempt to open the file on Word 2000 was unsuccessful because the format was not saved properly, it was saved as an odf file. The wife was confused and wanted to make sure that the file was still there and not damaged so she attempted to open with Open Office, version 2.2 or 2.4, I'm unsure, on a computer other than the one it was created with. After selecting the file, the ASCII window pops up asking formatting questions to open the file and she selected what ever was listed.....
Result: A rather screwed up file that I can not seem to revert back to any form of readable text. I have attempted some zipping of the file and trying some xml writer freeware, but this is a bit over my computer knowledge. Is there anyone that would let me send this document to them for a quick look and see if they can convert it back to text or word doc?
It was supposed to be about 8 pages of just text, it is somehow now a mere 20K in some form of ASCII. Any help would be greatly appreciated.