Olympian Mary Lou Retton’s ongoing pneumonia recovery has taken a turn for the better.
“UPDATE! We’re thrilled to share some uplifting news. Mom’s progress is truly remarkable. Prayers have been felt and are being answered,” Retton’s daughter McKenna, 26, began an Instagram update on Sunday, October 15. “Although she remains in [the] ICU, her path to recovery is steadily progressing.”
McKenna went on to state that her mother’s “fighting spirit is truly inspiring,” adding, “Her breathing is becoming stronger, and her reliance on machines is diminishing. Though it’s a lengthy journey, witnessing these improvements is incredibly heartening! She’s beginning to respond to treatments.”
She concluded her post on a thankful note, writing, “Once more, we extend our heartfelt gratitude for your overwhelming love and support.”
Mckenna’s latest update comes days after she revealed Retton, 55, is “fighting for her life” after being hospitalized with a “very rare form of pneumonia” for over a week. At the time, she also shared a link to a SpotFund online fundraiser page to help with the family’s medical bills.
“ANYTHING, absolutely anything, would be so helpful for my family and my mom,” McKenna wrote via the page on Tuesday, October 10. “Thank y’all so very much!”
One day later, Retton’s daughter Shayla, 28, gave fans another update on the former athlete’s condition via an Instagram video. (Retton shares four daughters — Shayla, McKenna, Skyla, 23, and Emma, 21, with her ex-husband, Shannon Kelley.)
“She’s still fighting,” Shayla stated in her Wednesday, October 11, post. “It’s going to be a day by day process, and we hope that you guys will respect her boundaries as we want to keep the details between her and our family right now.”
While Shayla added that Retton is receiving care from “the best of the best” doctors and medical professionals, she shared that she and her sisters have been “overwhelmed” with the situation as a whole.
“We didn’t even realize that there are so many people out there that love her just as much as we do,” Shayla continued. “It’s been a really hard time for our family and so just seeing that people love her like that and showing her that support has meant the world to us and to her.”
Retton’s former Dancing With the Stars partner, Sasha Farber, has also vocalized his support for the star, encouraging her to not give up. “I’ve been talking to her today and she’s fighting,” Farber, 39, told Entertainment Tonight on Tuesday. “She kind of wants to give up, but I’m sending her videos of her dancing and I’m telling her, ‘There’s only one Mary Lou Retton. You’ve got this!’”
Retton — best known for winning a gold medal in the individual all-around gymnastics competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles — competed on season 27 of DWTS in 2018, in which she and Farber were eliminated after the sixth week of competition. She previously retired from gymnastics in 1986 and was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997.
