


Mary Lou Retton, a Dancing with the Stars alum and Olympic gymnast, is continuing her health battle. The athlete remains in the ICU after experiencing a “pretty scary setback.”
Retton’s daughter, competitive bodybuilder Shayla Schrepfer, shared an update about her mother’s health in a video posted to Instagram yesterday (Oct. 18).
“Basically at the beginning of this week, we were going on the up and up,” she said, referring to a previous update in which she said Retton had been “steadily” recovering.
“We were so excited, seeing so much progress, and then yesterday we had a pretty scary setback,” Schrepfer said. “She is still in ICU and we’re just working through some things as far as her setback goes. So I just wanted to give an update there.”
Schrepfer added that Retton was having “a better day” but she remains “really, really exhausted.”
She concluded her message by thanking her followers for their support: “I’m getting so many messages and emails and just, it’s so great to see people love on her, so… that’s it,” she said.

Retton was hospitalized earlier this month after she contracted a “very rare form of pneumonia.” Reports at the time claimed she was “fighting for her life.”
Another one of her daughters, McKenna Kelley, shared a donation page to raise funds for Retton’s recovery in which she disclosed that Retton was uninsured. The page soon surpassed its set goal of $50,000, and has raised $453,243 at the time of publication.
Retton made a name for herself after earning five medals at the 1984 games. She was the first American gymnast to receive an individual all-around gold medal.
She later competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2018, where she ranked ninth with her partner Sasha Farber. Farber has also been rooting for Retton and has been touch with her while she’s recovered in the hospital.
“She’s a fighter. She’s going to be great. I know her very well,” he previously told Entertainment Tonight. “And she’s like family to me and she’s a fighter… she’s strong. She’s strong.”