McKenna Kelley, Mary Lou Retton's daughter who crowdsourced the post asks for his mother which has now reached $459,324, said in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY Sports that she and her sisters never expected to receive so much money from the public and were “so overwhelmed” by the response.
“I don’t know if it’s ignorance on our part or if it was just nice,” Kelley, 26, said. “It wasn't supposed to be a big media thing. … We didn't even think about what it was going to be. It was just about four girls who felt helpless and wanted to help their mother and knew that it would help them ease a burden.
Retton, 55, who won the individual all-around gold medal in women's gymnastics at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, was released from the hospital in late October after a weeklong stay during which she was “fighting for her life” with “a very rare form of pneumonia,” Kelley posted on Instagram at the time.
On October 30, Retton wrote on Instagram that she was “with her family who continue to slowly recover and remain very positive as I know this recovery is a long and slow process.”
Asked multiple times by USA TODAY Sports for comment, Retton declined.
Kelley said once her mother's medical bills are paid, the family plans to donate “any remaining funds” to a charity of her mother's choosing. Neither Kelley nor Retton would say how much of the $459,324 in the account spotfund.com was spent or how much would be donated to charity.
Donations skyrocketed after Kelley's surprising Instagram announcement about her mother, one of the most recognizable names in U.S. Olympic history.
“She is not able to breathe on her own,” Kelley wrote on October 10. “She has been in intensive care for over a week now. Out of respect for her and her privacy, I will not disclose all the details. However, I will say that it (is) not assured.
When asked in the interview with USA TODAY Sports why his mother was not covered by medical insurance, Kelley said Retton could not qualify for affordable health care due to pre-existing conditions, which according to her, include “more than 30 orthopedic surgeries, including four of the hip”. replacements. She suffers from chronic pain every day.
Kelley said, “Due to her medical history and the number of surgeries she has had due to gymnastics and life, this is unaffordable for her. »
When told that an insurance agent contacted by USA TODAY Sports found two plans charging $545 and $680 per month that someone with his mother's medical history would qualify for, Kelley said Retton already had been covered by health insurance, but “because she was unable to work and give speeches for two years due to the pandemic, she gave up her insurance.
Retton was “about to get (health insurance) again, but she didn't, and then she got sick,” Kelley said.
Retton remains popular in Olympic circles, with speaking fees estimated to be at least $25,000. She and her husband, Shannon Kelley, a former University of Texas quarterback, divorced in 2018 after 27 years of marriage. About 10 years ago, McKenna Kelley said, Retton moved from her large house in the Houston area to a smaller home.
Against this backdrop, while her mother was in the hospital, Kelley said, she and her three sisters made the decision to raise money online for their mother from friends and strangers.
“It's really about four girls worried about their mother, that's all,” Kelley said. “I know I keep saying this, but that’s really where our heart was when we started this; we felt so helpless. His breathing was beyond our control. The only thing we could do to help that was within our control was, if we start a GoFundMe, and if we start a one-time fund, people can help.
Kelley said, “When we asked for help, when we posted this, we didn't think about how it would end because she's not Mary Lou Retton to us. She's our mother. She would punish us, she would make us clean our room, she would make us dinner, she would be the shoulder to cry on, she is the joy and light of our lives and we wanted to help.
