Mary Lou Retton is feeling the love!
Earlier this week, the family revealed that Retton, 55, is hospitalized and “fighting for her life” as she battles a rare form of pneumonia.
The decorated gymnast’s family also set up a Spot Fund to support her medical expenses as she is uninsured. The original goal for the crowdfunding effort was set at $50,000.
As of Thursday, it has exceeded that number, reaching over $360,000.
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On Wednesday, the Olympic gymnast’s daughter, Shayla Schrepfer, gave an update on her mother and became emotional as she embraced the support.
“Thank you for your unbelievable love & support for our mom. Please continue to pray for her full recovery ❤️🩹,” she wrote on Instagram.
Shayla appeared in a video, where she got emotional as she spoke to the camera.
“First and foremost, thank you so much for all the love and support that you’ve given to my mom,” she began. “My sisters and I are overwhelmed. We didn’t even realize that there’s so many people out there who love her just as much as we do, and it’s been a really hard time for our family, and so just seeing that people love her like that, and showing her that support, has just meant the world to us and to her.”
She continued, “Thank you. As far as an update goes, she’s still fighting. It’s going to be a day by day process and we hope that you guys will respect her boundaries as we want to keep the details between her and our family right now.”
Shayla went on to thank the medical professionals.
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“She’s been treated with the best of the best professionals here and it has been such a blessing to have their hands on her,” she said. “So please continue to prayers and we cannot thank you enough for the love and support that you guys have shown.”
The update came the same day that Retton’s daughter, McKenna Lane Kelley, took to Instagram to share a similar update.
“Mom is in ICU and continues to fight,” she said in her social media post. “She is getting incredible medical care! Thank you to all the doctors and nurses! We ask for continued prayers and positive thoughts for our Mom.”
Earlier this week, Shayla told ET, “Our first priority is mom’s health. We are focused on her right now and want to be with her constantly.”
On Tuesday, Sasha Farber — who was Retton’s partner on Dancing With the Stars in 2018, gave ET an update on the decorated athlete.
“I’ve been talking to her today and she’s fighting,” shared Farber, who was joined by his current celeb partner, Alyson Hannigan. “She kind of wants to give up, but I’m sending her videos of her dancing and I’m telling her, ‘There’s only one Mary Lou Retton. You’ve got this!'”
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