Olympic champion Mary Lou Retton has ‘scary setback’ in battle with rare condition

Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton has had a “pretty scary setback” while battling pneumonia, her daughter said in an update on Wednesday.

Ms Retton became the first American female gymnast to win the all-around gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1984 and has been a household name ever since.

But back on 10 October, her daughter McKenna Kelley announced that she was “fighting for her life” in the ICU while battling a rare form of pneumonia and has been unable to breathe independently.

Days later, Ms Kelley shared an update on her Instagram that the gymnast was making “remarkable progress,” saying that “witnessing these improvements is incredibly heartening”.

She said that Ms Retton’s breathing was becoming stronger and her reliance on breathing support machines was decreasing.

However, the gold medalist’s other daughter Shayla Kelley Schrepfer has now given a less positive update on their mother’s condition.

In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Ms Schrepfer said: “Basically, at the beginning of this week, we were going on the up and up.

“We were so excited seeing so much progress. And then yesterday, we had a pretty scary setback.”

Ms Schrepfer said that they are now “working through some things as far as her setback goes” while her mother remains in the ICU.

“She had a better day today, which is great. She is just really, really exhausted,” she added.

She didn’t go into detail about the setback but added that she and her family are grateful for the overwhelming support they have received throughout the health battle.

After announcing their mother’s prognosis earlier this month, Ms Kelley set up a fundraising page with an original goal of $50,000 to help pay for her treatment, revealing that she does not have medical insurance.

This goal was quickly surpassed by a wave of thousands of adoring fans who have brought the total up to $452,000 as of Thursday morning.

The top donation currently comes from American businessman Mattress Mack – real name Jim McIngvale – and his wife, Linda.

The couple gave $50,000, telling TMZ they had been big fans of Ms Retton even before she shot to fame at the 1984 Olympic Games.

Another huge donation of $10,000 came last night from the Tyson Foods Team, an American food processing company.

“Mary Lou has partnered with Tyson Foods in the past on our Gold Medal Mom campaign and cookbook, ‘America’s Cookin’ with Tyson Holly Farms’,” the company wrote on the donation page.

“Our prayers go out to Mary Lou and family during this challenging time. The Tyson team is behind you!”

Ms Retton was only 15 years old when she started to make a name for herself in US competitions, winning the American Cup and coming second at the US Gymnastic National Championship in 1983.

The following year, she took the Los Angeles Olympic Games by storm, winning a gold medal as well as two bronze and two silver medals in other competitions within the games.

She was awarded a gold medal after she scored perfect 10s on the floor and vault events, gaining first place by just 0.05 points.

Her performance made her one of the most popular gymnasts in America. She was inducted into the United States Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame in 1985 and the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997.