Olympic Gold Medalist Mary Lou Retton ‘Fighting For Her Life’ In Hospital With Rare Type Of Pneumonia

Mary Lou Retton, an Olympic gold medalist, is “fighting for her life” in an intensive care unit.

Retton’s daughter, McKenna Kelley, started a Spotfund account and explained her mother’s battle with a rare form of pneumonia. Retton has been in the ICU for “over a week” and is unable to breathe on her own.

Kelley did not provide any further details but mentioned that Retton was uninsured and asked that people pray for her mother at the end of the post.

Retton made her mark in gymnastics in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

She won five medals in the Summer Games that year, which included a gold medal in the individual all-around competition – a first for any American woman. She also took home two silver medals and two bronze medals that year, and her accomplishments earned her the title of Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated.

After she stopped gymnastics, Retton went on to appear in several films and TV shows, such as a 1993 episode of Baywatch and the 1994 movie Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult. She was also on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports when George W. Bush was president.

In 1992, Retton was inducted into the National Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame. She was later inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997. Retton was the first woman in the Houston Sports Hall of Fame in 2020. 

Retton’s hometown, Fairmont, West Virginia, has named a street and a park after her.

Donations for Retton’s medical expenses have surpassed $360,000. Retton’s daughters say that they are “blown away” by the love Retton has received from her fans.

On Wednesday, Retton’s daughter, Shayla Kelley, posted on Instagram, “My sisters and I are overwhelmed… we didn’t even realize that there’s so many people out there that love her just as much as we do.”