Olympic Legend Mary Lou Retton Can’t 'Breathe on Her Own' - Her Daughter Asks for Help

• This week, Mary Lou Retton's daughter shared limited details of the former athlete's medical condition.
• Retton was vocal about maintaining an active lifestyle and taking supplements and vitamins.
• The gymnast has won five Olympic medals.

Mary Lou Retton is in a fight for her life. Her daughter, McKenna Kelley, appealed to the public for prayers and contributions toward the hospital bill for the iconic Olympiad, who has been in the ICU for the past week.

Retton was the first American woman to win gold in gymnastics when she competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics Games in Los Angeles. She was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997.

Kelley disclosed that her "amazing mom" was hospitalized with a rare form of pneumonia and unable "to breathe on her own." The former athlete does not have health insurance.

With the help of over 3,000 donors on a crowdfunding website, Kelley, on behalf of her sisters, has raised nearly $150,000 as of Wednesday, October 11, 2023. Her original ask was $50,000.

Retton has spoken about her various medical ailments. Since birth, she had dysplasia, which weakened her bones, and after having four children, the calcium in her body was further depleted.

In her thirties, she started experiencing pain and stiffness, making it impossible to bend down and play with her children. She went through a depressive stage when she was diagnosed with what she thought was an old "person's disease:"

"My whole life was based on my physicality—what I could physically do. It was performance-based. And that went away with arthritis."

She had two hip replacements and has worked to dispel the stigma of the surgery. The sports star is a proponent of taking vitamins and supplements and maintaining a healthy diet.

Writing for Women's World in 2016, she encouraged people afraid of having an active lifestyle to start a walking program. She emphasized that this was not to lose weight but to get healthy.

How Mary Lou Retton Became a Beloved American Icon

Retton's fame level in the '80s and '90s is comparable to what gymnasts like Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and Gabby Douglas inspire today. She has expressed her deep respect for the demands today's gymnasts have competing on a high level.

Retton was born on January 24, 1968, and raised in Fairmont, West Virginia. Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci's performance at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal stirred her to work at becoming a champion.

Five weeks before the 1984 Olympics, she had emergency surgery following an injury to her knee during practice. She bounced back to take the gold in the individual all-around competition by scoring perfect 10s on the floor and vault events.

By the end of the games, she was the athlete with the most medals. A team event secured her silver, and she won another silver in the vault and two bronze medals in the uneven bars and the floor. After she retired, she was the spokesperson for a cereal company and worked in television.