Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton, 55, has pneumonia and is in intensive care in a Texas hospital, her family has announced.
Retton’s daughter McKenna Kelley said in a post on Spotfund that the Olympics star was “fighting for her life.”
“She is not able to breathe on her own. She’s been in the ICU for over a week now,” Kelley said in the post. “Out of respect for her and her privacy, I will not disclose all details. However, I will disclose that she not insured.”
Kelley, also a gymnast, started a fundraising campaign for her mother’s medical expenses. As of Wednesday, she’s already raised more than $175,000, well above her goal of $50,000.
Retton was 16 years old 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, a West Virginia native, became first American woman ever to win the Olympic all-around title, and she also won two silver and two bronze medals at the Olympics that year.
By racking up awards, Retton helped to bring gymnastics — a sport long dominated by eastern European nations like Romania and the Soviet Union — into the mainstream in the U.S. She retired from competitive gymnastics in 1986.
Retton, now a mother of four, has made several film and television appearances since her retirement. She competed in a stint on “Dancing with the Stars,” and she appeared all over television commercials.
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The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.