Mary Lou Retton Recalls Near-Death Illness: ‘God Wasn’t Ready for Me’

Published: July 23, 2024

Mary Lou Retton Recalls Near-Death Illness: ‘God Wasn’t Ready for Me’

By Movieguide® Contributor

Mary Lou Retton credits God as the reason why she’s still alive.

The 1984 Olympic gold medal gymnast nearly died from a bad case of pneumonia last year. In fact, her condition was so severe that doctors told her daughters that they needed to come say their goodbyes.

“They prayed over me, and McKenna said, ‘Mommy, it’s OK, you can go.’ I didn’t have much of a relationship with my mother, but I can’t imagine what that was like, to watch their mom on her deathbed,” Retton tearfully remembered in an interview with PEOPLE. However, she recovered because “God wasn’t ready for me yet.”

Movieguide® previously reported on how Retton’s daughters helped her through that difficult time:

Retton explained how her illness was so severe that doctors told her family she might not make it.

“It was that close, and they prayed over me, and were about to put me on the ventilator, and I pulled through. I believe it’s the big man upstairs honestly. He’s not ready for me up there,” the former gymnast reflected.

She shared that her daughters “said their goodbyes and said, ‘mom it’s okay you can go,’ because once they put you on the ventilator, it’s hard to come off…”

Retton concluded by saying her four daughters — Shayla, McKenna, Skyla and Emma — are what got her through such a difficult time. “They inspire me, and they do every day. They’re extraordinary young women. They’re my biggest accomplishments. Take my five medals, I’ll take my daughters over that anytime,” she emphasized.

Despite surviving the impossible, Retton was not entirely unscathed. “My lungs are scarred, and they will be, because I shouldn’t be here,” she told PEOPLE.

Retton also took time in her interview to reminisce on her time in the Olympics.

“I’ll think about it and…I can remember being there, and what I was feeling. And, you know, no one can teach you that feeling of being, I mean I had to be perfect. In front of the world Bela said, ‘You need to give me a 10,'” she recalled. Retton scored a perfect 10 in all events, winning the gold and securing a spot in the Olympics Hall of Fame.

“You can see on the video that I was smiling before my feet touched the floor,” she said, remembering how she stuck the landing. “The Pauley Pavilion was shaking with all the cheering. They were all shouting, ‘Ten! Ten! Ten!’”

Retton concluded, “I had gone above and beyond all I’d ever wanted to do, which was to win something at the Olympics. And then I went and won the whole thing.”