"My daughters were saying their goodbyes to me" - Mary Lou Retton on being hospitalized for pneumonia

Legendary gymnast Mary Lou Retton recently shared a heart-wrenching experience of her time-fighting pneumonia. The 55-year-old wept a little when she remembered her daughters saying their goodbyes to her in the hospital.

After months of battling with pneumonia, Lou Retton has now shown progress in her recovery. Recently, she appeared in an interview with her eldest daughter, Shayla Schrepfer on Today.

The interview revealed that the gymnast was admitted to the ICU after her oxygen levels were “dangerously dropping low.” Her medical team tested her for several diseases but could not trace any health condition. However, Lou Retton’s lungs had become white and she was plummeting oxygen for a week.

At one point, the medical team informed Schrepfer to call her sisters. She told in the interview,

“Yeah, she told me you need to get your sister here because we don't know if she's going to make it through the night.”

She added,

“McKenna and I put our hands on her and said a prayer.”

Remembering that time, a teary-eyed Mary Lou Retton said,

“They were saying their good-byes to me.”

1984 Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton made headlines in October 2023 after being diagnosed with a rare form of pneumonia. The retired gymnast’s daughter McKenna Kelley shared the news of her mother’s condition to the world through her social media handle. Moreover, she urged her fans to contribute to Lou Retton’s medical expenses through a fundraiser as the gymnast did not have a medical insurance plan.

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Mary Lou Retton describes the day she was admitted to an emergency room

Mary Lou Retton

During her interview with Today, Mary Lou Retton revealed that she was supposed to meet her daughters at a football match. However, she never showed up as she could not breathe comfortably.

She told in the interview,

"I literally was laying on my bedroom floor and I said "I can't do this. I don't know what was wrong with me, I couldn't breathe. Couldn't take that big deep breath in, I still can't."

Furthermore, the retired gymnast revealed that her neighbor found her uneasy when she came to her house to alert the gymnast about her car’s open door in the driveway.

Her neighbors immediately took her to a local emergency room where she was diagnosed with pneumonia.

When asked about the treatment she received at the local ER, Lou Retton said,

"It was a bad experience. I wasn't being treated. It wasn't taken as seriously as I think it was"