Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton is “fighting for her life” in an intensive care unit, according to her daughter.
Retton has been diagnosed with “a very rare form of pneumonia” and has been in the ICU at an undisclosed hospital for more than a week “not able to breathe on her own”, McKenna Kelley said in an Instagram story posted on Tuesday afternoon.
“Out of respect for her and her privacy, I will not disclose all details,” wrote Kelley, a former gymnast at Louisiana State University. “However, I will disclose that she is not insured.”
She added: “We ask that if you could help in any way, that 1) you PRAY! and 2) if you could help us with finances for the hospital bill.”
Retton, 55, won five medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, including a gold in the all-around competition – the first individual Olympic gymnastics medal ever won by an American – scoring a perfect 10 on the vault in the final rotation. The West Virginia native’s performance landed her on the front of Wheaties boxes and keyed the sport’s explosion in popularity in the United States.
After her gymnastics career, Retton remained active in the media, appearing in a number of films and TV shows. She was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997 and was the first woman to be selected into the Houston Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.
Retton also served on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports under US president George W Bush.