Mary Lou Retton, the gymnastic prodigy, made her mark before any woman in her sport did. Having taken up gymnastics in West Virginia, Retton was bold enough to move to Houston, Texas, to pursue gymnastics. Growing up seeing Nadia Comaneci in action, the Olympic couldn’t control the greed of training under the legend’s coaches. In 1984, at the Summer Olympics in LA, she came out victorious as the first woman gymnast to win all-round gold. Moreover, keeping her as an example, gymnasts train to achieve the best even now. But the idolized great has fallen into the mouth of grave illness.

Recently, McKenna Kelley, the eldest daughter of the gymnastic great, took to social media to share her mother’s deteriorating health. Struck with a rare type of pneumonia, she was “not able to breathe” without support. Moreover, due to the absence of health insurance, the family had to seek netizen’s help to meet monetary needs. Now, as her health gets better, the Americans walk down the memory lane to link this story with another legend.

Mary Lou Retton has an unusual connection

Earned the title of being “the greatest”, Muhammad Ali ruled the boxing ring in his days. The boxer-turned-activist ruled from 1964 to 1970 with the Ring magazine heavyweight title. The iconic sports magazine ‘Sports Illustrated’ declared him as the Sportsman of the Century in 1999. With so many accolades in his sporting career, his health took an upsetting turn.

In December 2014, the WWE legend got hospitalized with pneumonia, just like Mary Lou Retton. Spokesman Gunell had said, “Because the pneumonia was caught early, his prognosis is good with a short hospital stay expected.” Ali was already suffering from Parkinsons when the life-threatening pneumonia caught him.

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Though not many details about Muhammad Ali’s disease came to the fore, he recovered eventually. Along similar lines. Lou is also showing signs of recovery.

Shayla’s positive update

After days of breathing with support, Mary’s life finally has a ray of hope. Calming 7,000 fans down, her daughter Shayla shared an Instagram story. She wrote, ?Mom?s (Mary Lou) progress is truly remarkable! Prayers have been felt and have been answered. ” Though Mary has started normal breathing, ?but her path to recovery is steadily unfolding.?Her fighting spirit is truly shining. Her breathing is becoming stronger, and her reliance on machines is diminishing.? Several fans hopped in to help the family with monetary sources and prayed for a quick recovery. Acknowledging their efforts, Shayla added, ?Though it?s a lengthy journey, witnessing these improvements is incredibly heartwarming! She?s responding well to the treatments.?

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After the sudden ill-health update, the family had set up a fundraising page named Spotfund to welcome potential donators. Finally, after $420,790 for the gymnastic legend, the world awaits a better news from the family.