Former Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton addressed the relentless criticism her daughters faced after launching a crowdsourcing fundraiser amid her battle with pneumonia last fall, praising the girls for "stepping up to the plate."
"They didn't deserve that. They were just trying to take care of me," Retton explained from her Texas home, RadarOnline.com has learned. The famed athlete admitted to "sobbing" when she found out about the fundraiser to help cover her mounting medical bills.
"I don't care about the naysayers. There are trolls everywhere. It's what makes us America. Everybody's got an opinion, but it is what it is," she added in response to those who questioned how the $459,354 raised would be used.
Retton spent two weeks in the ICU last October, and it was revealed that her finances took a hit after her 2018 divorce fromShannon Kelley and the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The gold medalist is a mom of four toShayla, McKenna, Skyla and Emma, all of whom followed in their mother's footsteps by getting involved with gymnastics at a young age.
The girls remained by her side throughout her pnemonia battle. She said that when her health was at a decline, doctors told her to call in her youngest daughter from her University of Arkansas because the future was unclear.
"You're welcome to your opinion, but you weren't in that situation," Retton told Entertainment Tonight in response to the backlash, expressing her utmost gratitude to those who uplifted her.
"They saved my life and all the love and support saved my life, and these finances will only go to medical bills and I said what's left will go to the American Lung Association because I am now a member of the lung disease community," she added. "You can't imagine from ambulance bills to everything. I couldn't have done it without my daughters. I just couldn't have."
Retton said it was hard to imagine how they felt seeing her on her deathbed. "They've shown me pictures of myself, and I didn't even look like me."
"It's a very long recovery," she shared about her scarred lungs. "I'm still on oxygen, and I had a bit of a relapse a while ago, but I'm back and regulated."
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"I believe it's the big man upstairs honestly. He's not ready for me up there. I'm not ready."