Mary Lou Retton “Surviving on Oxygen” Narrates the First Day When It All Happened

The gymnastics world currently has eyes on Olympic legend Mary Lou Retton. No one could ever ponder about something this dreadful for a gymnastics icon like her. Apart from her exceptional wins and commendable career in the Olympics, Mary Lou Retton has faced various perplexities in her life and one among them has recently concerned many. The legend is suffering from a rare form of pneumonia that threatened her life and is currently “surviving on oxygen“. 

Retton and her daughter have recently spoken about this fatal situation and the world is listening to it. From severe health issues to financial concerns, she has revealed all of it before, but recently she has revealed the first day when it all happened. 

Mary Lou Retton Opens Up About how her grave situation started

The Today Show took to their X account and shared an interview with Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton where she opened up about how she got to know about her rare form of pneumonia. She revealed that the day before her world turned upside down, she had plans to go to a football game with her daughters, however, fate had something else planned for her. 

Mary Lou Retton further expressed, “I couldn’t. I was laying on my bedroom floor”. She added, “I cannot do this. I didn’t know what was wrong with me”. She recalled, how she couldn’t breathe and the worst part was that she was all on her own at her house. However, fortunately, her neighbor came to her rescue and ended up saving her life. After this, the Olympian was immediately rushed to the hospital. After hospital visits, treatments, and donation drives, the icon is on the road to her recovery. 

The Olympian’s fight with death 

Mary Lou Retton literally fought death when she was grappling to breathe. However, after getting immediate medical care and a few days in the ICU, her daughter McKenna Lane Kelley shared an update about Retton’s return from the hospital. She stated, “Mom is HOME & in recovery mode. We still have a long road of recovery ahead of us, but baby steps.”

Read more: “It’s Because…”: Amid Happy Recovery, Reasons for Mary Lou Retton’s Lack of Insurance Surface

With this, she also portrayed gratitude for the support and love her mother received from everyone. The gymnasts’ daughters McKenna, Emma, Skyla, and Shayla started a donation drive for her mother to pay the hospital bills. They got an overwhelming response as more than 8,300 people came forward to donate over $459,000. 

Watch this story: As Simone Biles and Michael Phelps’ Work Towards Mental Health, Another Rising Gymnast Breaks Silence on Self-Care in Sports