- Olympic legend Mary Lou Retton had to ‘fight for her life’ last month
- The gold medalist was hospitalized in Texas with a rare form of pneumonia
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
US gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton says her condition is ‘slowly improving’ after be admitted to hospital with a rare form of pneumonia.
The Olympic gold medalist, 55, was taken to intensive care at a Texas hospital last month.
Her daughter, McKenna Kelley, said at the time that the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around title in 1984 was “fighting for her life” and unable to breathe on her own.
But in a Thanksgiving update on her condition, Retton said she was making positive progress in her recovery.
“As we gather to celebrate this Thanksgiving, my heart overflows with deep gratitude,” she wrote.
US gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton says she is ‘slowly improving’ after being admitted to hospital
She won two Olympic silver and bronze medals that same year, in addition to her gold medal
“I want to express how blessed and grateful I am to be slowly improving and to be home with my girls, especially after my time in the hospital.
“Your love has been a beacon of hope in my life. On this day of thanksgiving, I am reminded of the preciousness of life, the love that surrounds me, and the resilience of the human spirit.
“Each of you has played an important role in my journey, and for that I am forever grateful.”
Kelley started with one fundraising campaign on behalf of Retton to cover medical expenses because she does not have health insurance.
Retton was 16 when she became an icon of the U.S. Olympic movement during her gold medal-winning performance at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
Retton, who grew up in Fairmont, West Virginia, also won two silver and two bronze medals at those Olympics to help bring gymnastics — a sport long dominated by Eastern European powers like Romania and the Soviet Union — into the mainstream in the U.S.