Olympic gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton has bravely shared the details of her life-threatening health encounter last year in a recent interview.
The 55-year-old is speaking out for the first time after facing “death in the eyes” while battling a severe bout of pneumonia last fall.
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“I am blessed to be here because there is a time when they were about to put me on life support,” Retton, 55, told Today‘s Hoda Kotb.
“Usually my interviews are, ‘Oh yes — it felt great to win the Olympics,’ you know?” Retton, who was using portable oxygen during the interview, said. “This is serious and this is life.”
Retton also revealed the heartbreaking moments when her daughters feared they might be saying their final goodbyes in the hospital. In her emotional interview, the talented athlete shed light on her struggle with a rare form of pneumonia, leaving her dependent on oxygen, possibly indefinitely.
The frightening ordeal began when Retton collapsed in her bedroom on the morning of a planned “girls trip” with her daughter Emma Jean to watch Emma’s boyfriend play football for the University of Arkansas. A friend entered her house after noticing her car in the driveway with an open door, and she was rushed to the emergency room, marking the start of her challenging journey.
“I didn’t know what was wrong with me,” Retton recalled, via Entertainment Tonight. After initial hospitalization, she was sent home but faced a drastic decline in oxygen levels, prompting a swift return to the hospital. Retton’s daughter, Shayla Schrepfer, described her mother’s rapid deterioration: “Things just went south really, really fast.”
That night, a doctor had a crucial conversation with three of Retton’s daughters – Schrepfer, McKenna Kelley, and Skyla Kelley. The doctor discussed the possibility of taking the next critical step for Retton’s health. With Emma Jean away at college, the doctor urged the sisters to bring their mother to the hospital that very night, not knowing if she would survive.
“We don’t know if she’s going to make it through the night,” Schrepfer revealed the doctor had said at the time.
Retton recounted the emotional moment her daughters thought they might lose her, saying: “They were saying their goodbyes to me.” Fortunately, Emma arrived that night, and a new breathing apparatus, delivering high-flow oxygen through her nose, helped improve her breathing. This meant Retton did not have to be put on a ventilator, and she gradually improved, eventually leaving the hospital after a month.
Despite the recovery, the cause of Retton’s mysterious illness remains unknown. She tested negative for COVID-19, the flu, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The baffled Olympian, who told Kotb that she had never experienced lung issues before, expressed her gratitude for the outpouring of love and support.
“I just thought I was a washed-up old athlete, but the love touched me,” Retton said. Reflecting on her survival, she added: “Now that I’m alive and I made it through, there’s so many more positives than negatives.”
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