Mary Lou Retton is ‘fighting for her life’ in hospital after being struck down with a rare form of pneumonia.
The former Olympic gymnast’s daughter McKenna Kelley has revealed her 55-year-old mum, who appeared on Dancing with the Stars in 2018, has spent more than a week in an intensive care unit as doctors battle to save her.
McKenna has launched an online fundraiser to help pay for Mary Lou’s treatment because she doesn’t have medical insurance.
In a post shared on Spotfund, McKenna wrote: ‘My amazing mom, Mary Lou, has a very rare form of pneumonia and is fighting for her life.
‘She is not able to breathe on her own. She’s been in the ICU for over a week now. Out of respect for her and her privacy, I will not disclose all details.’
McKenna added: ‘However, I will disclose that she’s not insured.’
She went on to urge fans to help by praying for her mum and contributing anything they can to the fundraiser.
McKenna went on: ‘We ask that if you could help in any way, that 1) you PRAY! and 2) if you could help us with finances for the hospital bill. ANYTHING, absolutely anything, would be so helpful for my family and my mom. Thank y’all so very much!’
Mary Lou made history at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles by becoming the first American woman to take home a gold medal for the individual all-around competition.
She later added two silver medals and two bronze to her tally.
Mary Lou retired from gymnastics in 1986 and went on to land cameo roles in a number of movies including Scrooged and n**ed.n**ed Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult as well as TV shows such as Glee and Baywatch.
The sporting star came in ninth place during her DWTS stint.
Metro.co.uk has reached out to Mary Lou’s reps for comment.
