Here’s what we know about the Olympian’s health.
One of the greatest gymnasts in American history is currently hospitalized, and her condition appears to be in a worrisome place at the moment.
Mary Lou Retton made history at the 1984 Olympics by becoming the first American to win gold in the individual all-around category, but the 55-year-old has been battling a “rare form of pneumonia” for several weeks, according to her daughters. Here’s what we know about how she’s responding to treatment.
Mary Lou Retton suffered a “pretty scary setback” with her pneumonia battle
In an Instagram video posted on Oct. 18, one of Retton’s four daughters, Shayla Kelley Schrepfer, shared an update on her mom’s condition.
“Basically, at the beginning of this week we were going on the up and up,” Schrepfer said. “We were so excited, seeing so much progress, and then yesterday we had a pretty scary setback. She is still in the ICU, and we’re just working through some things as far as her setback goes. So I just wanted to give an update there.”
While Schrepfer didn’t give more context regarding the “setback” her mother is facing, she did provide some medical detail in a post five days prior to the most recent one.
“Although she remains in the ICU, her path to recovery is unfolding,” the post read. “Her breathing is becoming stronger, and her reliance on machines is diminishing… She’s responding so well to treatments.”
Now, per Schrepfer’s most recent update, her mother is “really exhausted.”
Retton’s daughters crowdfunded her medical payments: “She is not insured”
News of Retton’s medical troubles first broke several weeks ago via a crowdfunding request by her daughters. On the social fundraising site Spotfund, Retton’s daughter McKenna Kelley wrote, “Out of respect for [my mother] and her privacy, I will not disclose all details. However, I will disclose that she’s not insured. We ask that if you could help in any way, that 1) you PRAY! and 2) if you could help us with finances for the hospital bill.”
In the time since that post went live, supporters of Retton have donated well past the original goal of $50,000. More than 8,000 people have donated a cumulative $456,000, as of Oct. 19 — and with so many headlines about Retton’s condition, this number could continue to rise over the coming days.
Retton’s family’s decision to crowdsource a solution for medical debt is a fundamentally American story. Per The New York Times, 250,000 Americans begin crowdfunding campaigns as a means to pay off medical debt each year — but most of those campaigns never reach their fundraising goals. In fact, the Times reports that around 16 percent of these campaigns receive no donations at all.
Amidst this outpouring of support, Retton’s daughters have repeatedly thanked everyone for their donations, while also making a point to draw a firm line around their mother’s need for privacy during her medical struggles.
“We hope that you guys will respect her boundaries, as we want to keep the details between her and our family right now,” Schrepfer said on Instagram.
Looking back on Mary Lou Retton’s high-flying career
The history-making gold medal she won at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles wasn’t the only hardware she brought home that year — she also earned two more silver medals and a bronze. Following her stellar Olympic performance, she was named “Sportswoman of the Year” in Sports Illustrated.
She’s been an icon of gymnastics ever since, and our very own Katie Couric met her at the 1992 games in Barcelona. “I remember meeting and interviewing Mary Lou Retton: She was full of exuberance and we both had that perky thing going. We also had very similar hairstyles! She was so talented and so much fun to interview,” Katie recalled about their encounter. Years later, Retton stopped by Katie’s daytime talk show in 2012 for a headstand challenge:
Following her star-marking turn at the Olympics, went on to make cameos in film and television, including Knots Landing and Baywatch. In 2018, she competed on the 27th season of Dancing with the Stars, where she and her partner Sasha Farber achieved ninth place.
