(Reuters) – Olympic gold medallist Mary Lou Retton is home from hospital and “in recovery mode,” her daughter said on Monday, after a rare form of pneumonia left the American fighting for her life.
Retton, 55, has spent nearly two weeks in an intensive care unit where she was unable to breathe on her own.
“We still have a long road of recovery ahead of us, but baby steps,” McKenna Lane Kelley, who is one of Retton’s four daughters, said in a post on social media.
“We are overwhelmed with the love and support from everyone. Grateful doesn’t scrape the surface of the posture of our hearts.”
Nicknamed “America’s Sweetheart”, Retton’s gold medal-winning performance at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles captured the imagination of U.S. fans and her hospitalisation has prompted an outpouring of support.
A fundraising page set up by the family to help cover Retton’s hospital bills was approaching $460,000 in donations on Monday. The family previously revealed that Retton is uninsured.
“Thank you Jesus, thank you doctors & nurses, thank you to this loving community of support,” Kelley said.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Ken Ferris)
