Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton is home after bout with pneumonia
After suffering “a pretty scary setback” last week, for Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton is home, her daughters say.
“Mom is HOME & in recovery mode. We still have a long road of recovery ahead of us, but baby steps,” daughter McKenna Kelley posted Monday on social media.
Retton had been hospitalized two weeks with a rare form of pneumonia, which had her fighting for her life.
Just last week, she suffered a setback that oldest daughter Shayla Schrepfer called “pretty scary.”
“At the beginning of this week, we were going on the up-and-up,” her oldest daughter, Shayla Schrepfer, said in an social media post. “We were so excited, seeing so much progress, and then yesterday we had a pretty scary setback.”
Although most pneumonia is caused by bacteria, the American Lung Association explains, rare forms come from a virus or fungus. It still isn’t clear how Retton contracted the pneumonia.
Retton was the darling of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, winning five medals total and becoming the first American woman to win gold in the allaround competition.
Kelley also said Retton doesn’t have health insurance and the family had set up an online donation site to help pay medical bills. They were hoping for $50,000, but as of Friday have $459,014 in the fund.
Schrepfer concluded her video by thanking everyone for their support.
“It’s so great to see people love on her,” she said.
In Kelley’s Monday post, she thanked everyone for their support.
“We are overwhelmed with the love and support from everyone. Grateful doesn’t scrape the surface of the posture of our hearts,” she wrote.
“Thank you Jesus, thank you doctors & nurses, thank you to this loving community of support.”