Mary Lou Retton Remains Cagey About Health Crisis

Gymnast speaks out but still won't offer specifics, as 'USA Today' points out
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 9, 2024 2:00 AM CST
Mary Lou Retton Speaks Out About Health Crisis, Sort Of
Mary Lou Retton celebrates her balance beam score at the 1984 Olympic Games, Aug. 3, 1984 in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File)

Mary Lou Retton is speaking out about her health crisis—though not so much about all the money raised for her during the health crisis. In an interview with Hoda Kotb on NBC News, the 55-year-old Olympic gold medal gymnast said she is "blessed to be here because there is a time when they were about to put me on life support," and she said she's grateful to be alive despite not knowing what comes next: "I mean when you face death in the eyes, I have so much to look forward to," she said. But, she added, "I have no idea what the future holds for me. I don't know if I'm going to have lasting issues with my lungs. They don't know."

As for the pneumonia that was at the center of the health scare—she was breathing with the assistance of a nasal oxygen tube during the interview—she didn't talk much about the specifics, including what type of pneumonia it was or how she got it. She also didn't get very specific about her financial situation or lack of health insurance, which is what led her family to start a crowdfunding campaign to cover her medical bills. "When COVID hit and after my divorce (in 2018), and all my pre-existing (conditions)—I've had over 30 operations of orthopedic stuff—I couldn't afford it," she said, adding that she now has insurance: "I'm all set now."

As for the more than $459,000 raised so far for her, USA Today reports that it has been trying for months to get answers from Retton and her family about how much of that is accounted for and what it was used on, but that they have been cagey about that (the remaining funds, whatever those may be, will apparently be given to charity, one of her daughters says). The family has also refused "to answer the most basic questions about her health care," including the hospital she was treated at or the names of the doctors who treated her, the newspaper says. (More Mary Lou Retton stories.)

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