Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton has ‘pretty scary setback,’ remains in ICU
Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton, who has been hospitalized for nearly two weeks with a rare form of pneumonia, suffered a “pretty scary setback” this week, her daughter said.
“At the beginning of this week, we were going on the up-and-up,” her oldest daughter, Shayla Schrepfer, said in an Instagram post. “We were so excited, seeing so much progress, and then yesterday we had a pretty scary setback.”
Schrepfer didn’t go into detail about the setback, but did say Retton is doing better.
“She is still in ICU, and we’re just working through some things as far as her setback goes, so I just wanted to give an update there,” she continued. “She had a better day today, which is great, just really, really exhausted. She is really exhausted.”
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 all-around competition.
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 pneumonia, but one daughter, McKenna Kelley, said her mother was “fighting for her life” and unable to breathe on her own.
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.
About the Author
Nancy Clanton is a lead producer for The AJC's platforms team, but also writes stories about health, travel, events and entertainment. A native of Knoxville and graduate of the University of Tennessee, she has worked at the AJC for 24 years.
