The harrowing experience left the U.S. gold medalist and legendary gymnast, Mary Lou Retton, who was uninsured at that time, on the brink of life and death, hovering perilously close to being placed on a ventilator. Despite facing this grave threat, Retton emerged with a sense of profound gratitude and blessedness, having survived a rare form of pneumonia that had her confined in the ICU and left her children fearing the worst.
In a candid and emotional interview with Today's Hoda Kotb, Retton opened up about the harrowing ordeal, exacerbated by her lack of health insurance. After a divorce, coupled with over 30 orthopedic surgeries and pre-existing conditions that disqualified her from insurance coverage, Retton faced a dire situation when she was struck by an unidentified form of pneumonia. Her medical team and family were forced to consider the unthinkable option of placing her on a ventilator.
"When you stare death in the face, there's so much you still want to achieve," Retton reflected, having narrowly escaped the clutches of death. "I'm a fighter, and I refuse to give up. The future is uncertain, and I don't know if my lungs will fully recover. But I won't surrender. It's not in my nature."
Retton, her voice wavering with emotion, spoke of the overwhelming support she received, despite feeling like a "washed-up old athlete." She emphasized that the positives outweighed the negatives, especially now, as she emerged from the shadows of death.
The 56-year-old Olympic champion relied on oxygen during her interview with Kotb and confessed that she barely remembered her month-long hospitalization. It was her daughter, Shayla Schrepfer, who was by her side, providing comfort and support. Retton's initial hospitalization was a brief and worrying one, with doctors dismissing the severity of her condition and sending her home within days.
However, the very next day, Retton was found in a critical state, struggling to breathe. She was rushed to a larger hospital, where doctors discovered her oxygen levels were critically low and dropping rapidly. It was a month-long battle for Retton, with doctors only considering her release after her lungs showed signs of recovery following high-flow oxygen treatment.
Schrepfer recounted the moment when doctors told her that her mother's condition was dire. "They told me to bring my sister Emma Jean because we didn't know if Mom was going to survive the night. McKenna and I held her hands and said a prayer," she said, tears streaming down her face. "I just hugged her and McKenna kept saying, 'It's okay, you can go.'"
Retton, tears in her eyes, added, "My children were saying their goodbyes to me."
The road to recovery was long and arduous, and Retton was unsure for how long she would need the oxygen. But her medical costs were covered by generous donations to a GoFundMe campaign set up by her daughters. "We wanted to ensure that if Mom pulled through, she wouldn't have to worry about paying off the bills," said Schrepfer. With nearly $460,000 raised, Retton was able to purchase insurance, giving her a sense of security and peace.
"I'm usually very private, but I wanted to share this story," said Retton. "My interviews usually revolve around winning the Olympics, but this is different. This is serious, and this is life. I'm so grateful and blessed to be here."
