Mary Lou Retton recently sat down for an interview with Hoda Kotb for Today where she opened up about recovering from a rare form of pneumonia that left her in the ICU. Accompanied by her daughter, Shayla Schrepfer, the 55-year-old retired gymnast got candid about what the experience was like for her.
"I mean, when you face death in the eyes?" she said. "I have so much to look forward to. I’m a fighter and I’m not going to give up. I’m not going to give up. I have no idea what the future holds for me. I don’t know if I’m going to have lasting issues with my lungs. They don’t know. I wish I had answers. But I will never give up, it’s not in me."
While in the ICU, the readings from Mary's pulse oximeter, which measures the amount of oxygen circulating in the blood, were in the 70% range. The typical range is 95% to 100%. Over the next week, those levels continued to drop. The medical team even had to consider putting her on life support.
"She told me, 'You need to get your sister here, because we don't know if she's going to make it through the night,'" Shayla recalled. "And so McKenna and I, put her hands on her and we said a prayer." Mary responded emotionally, "They were saying their goodbyes to me."
More from LittleThings: Mary Lou Retton's Daughter Gives An Update On Her Mom's Pneumonia Battle
Trying one last option, the doctors had decided to pump high-flow oxygen through May's nose. It eventually helped to raise her levels enough that she didn't need to be put on life support. After a month in the hospital, her lungs had healed enough for her to return home, just in time for the holidays.
"I'm with family continuing to slowly recover and staying very positive as I know this recovery is a long and slow process," she posted to Instagram then. "I just thought I was a washed-up old athlete, but the love touched me," she mentioned to Hoda of the support she received from many. "Now that I'm alive and I made it through, there’s so many more positives than negatives."
