US Olympic Legend 'Fighting for Her Life' in Hospital, Daughter Reveals
Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton has pneumonia and is in intensive care in a Texas hospital.
Retton’s daughter, McKenna Kelley, shared Retton’s condition in an Instagram post on Tuesday. Kelley said the 55-year-old Retton, who in 1984 became the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around title, is “fighting for her life” and not able to breathe on her own.
Mary Lou Retton, who became the first American gymnast to win the all-around gold at the 1984 Olympics, has a rare form of pneumonia and is “fighting for her life” in intensive care, her daughter said on Tuesday.
More: https://t.co/3Msyn5flya pic.twitter.com/ihKQoE3Tte
— ESPN (@espn) October 11, 2023
Kelley has started a fundraising campaign on Retton’s behalf for medical expenses. Kelley wrote that Retton does not currently have medical insurance.
“She’s been in the ICU for over a week now,” Kelley wrote on the fundraising page.
Many Americans apparently remember Retton’s contributions to the country and are grateful. As of Wednesday morning Eastern Time, the page had raised $173,270. Its stated goal was only $50,000.
In addition to funding, the family has requested prayers for Retton.
The news has drawn an outpouring on social media.
Thoughts and prayers for you Mary Lou 🙏
— Kyle (@DosaCero20) October 11, 2023
Thoughts and prayers for you Mary Lou 🙏
— Kyle (@DosaCero20) October 11, 2023
As a child of the 80s, and one who had no previous interest in gymnastics, you have been a hero to many of us. You and your family are in our thoughts and prayers.
— Shaun Weekly (@ShaunWeekly) October 11, 2023
Retton was 16 years old when she became an icon of the U.S. Olympic movement during her gold medal-winning performance at the Summer Games in Los Angeles.
Retton, who grew up in Fairmont, West Virginia, also won two silver and two bronze medals at those Olympics to help bring gymnastics — a sport long dominated by Eastern European powers like Romania and the Soviet Union — into the mainstream in the U.S.
Retton, a mother of four, currently lives in Texas.
She retired from competitive gymnastics in 1986 and did numerous commercial endorsements. She also made several film and television appearances, including a stint on “Dancing with the Stars.”
She and her husband, Shannon Kelley, divorced in 2018.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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