Olympic Gold Medalist Mary Lou Retton Hospitalized With Pneumonia And “Fighting For Her Life”
Only in America would an Olympic gold medalist be uninsured and forced to use crowdfunding in order to pay for life-saving medical treatment. Via Deadline:
Mary Lou Retton’s daughter, McKenna Kelley, shared on Instagram a link to crowdsource funds for her mother, who is suffering from “a very rare form of pneumonia and is fighting for her life,” she said.
“She is not able to breathe on her own. She’s been in the ICU for over a week now,” Kelley shared. “Out of respect for her and her privacy, I will not disclose all details. However, I will disclose that she’s not insured.”
[Deadline]
Donate here.
This is tragic on so many levels, and while COVID isn’t mentioned in any reporting (remember: the media is not allowed to talk about COVID anymore, even though over 1,000 Americans are dying of it every week as the pandemic rages on), it wouldn’t be surprising if a previous (or current) COVID case impaired her immune system, making her vulnerable to the pneumonia infection. I have a friend right now who’s been battling pneumonia for over two months, after being infected with COVID twice in the last year, but she’s finally getting better, thankfully. Mary Lou Retton will hopefully have a similar recovery, although it sounds like she’s much worse off than my friend.
Even though I was so young in 1984 and remember very little from back then, I’ll never forget watching her on TV and seeing her win those Olympic medals in Los Angeles:
Here is Mary Lou Retton at the 1984 Olympics in LA, scoring a perfect 10 on vault to become the 1st American woman to win the all-around individual gold in gymnastics. Today, she’s in an ICU with no health insurance.
Is this how a national treasure should be treated in the USA? pic.twitter.com/sB3NnQIx0K
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) October 10, 2023
