Olympic Gymnast Mary Lou Retton, Currently on Oxygen, Finally Speaks Out after ‘Fighting for Her Life’

Mary Lou Retton has been through challenging times since becoming an Olympic champion. She has remained relatively private about her struggles but is finally speaking out about everything she has gone through.

Mary Lou Retton is best known for her incredible prowess as an American gymnast. However, she recently faced a life-threatening battle and has now opened up about “fighting for her life.” She sat down with Hoda Kotb to discuss her health battles.

During the interview, which Retton says is rare because she is so private about her life outside winning the Olympic gold at the 1984 Olympics, she talks about what it has been like as she is “not able to breathe on her own” because she is fighting a rare form of pneumonia.

Retton’s four daughters set up a crowd-funding account to help them fund their mother’s medical bills. The crowdfunding account has raised over $450,000 of an initial $50,000 goal. The account says that details will be withheld out of privacy, but it was confirmed that Retton was not insured.

Although Retton is now on oxygen, she has always highly valued health, saying that she didn’t want to be “crumpled up in a recliner or a wheelchair or in crutches or a walker.” Instead, she wanted to be able to throw enormous weddings for her daughters and be there for her grandchildren when they came and many other celebrations.

Now, she has shared with Kotb that she felt she was vulnerable and preferred to remain private. However, in the interview with Kotb, she confirmed that her condition was serious, but that she was grateful and blessed to still be alive, considering there was a time when doctors were considering placing her on life support.