Mary Lou Retton's former "Dancing With the Stars" partner Sasha Farber has shared an update on the Olympic gymnast's health as she battles a "rare" form of pneumonia that has left her "fighting for her life."
Farber, who competed alongside Retton on the show during season 27 in 2018, revealed to Entertainment Tonight that he had seen Retton earlier on Tuesday.
"I've been talking to her today and she's fighting," he said. "She kind of wants to give up, but I'm sending her videos of her dancing and I'm telling her, 'There's only one Mary Lou Retton. You've got this!' "
When Farber and Retton partnered up for "DWTS," the pair were the fifth couple to be eliminated, but they have maintained a strong friendship over the years.
"She was in L.A. [a few weeks] ago and she wanted to meet up, [but] I had rehearsals and I couldn't. She was like, 'Let me take you out for dinner,' and I couldn't go because I had rehearsals," Farber shared.
"But I just mean, you know, you've got to see the people [you care about], you've gotta say hi, you gotta call them," he said. "And I've been speaking to her today."
On Tuesday morning, Retton's daughter, McKenna Kelley, revealed via an Instagram story that her mother "has a very rare form of pneumonia and is fighting for her life."
According to the post, Retton "is not able to breathe on her own. She's been in the ICU for over a week now."
Farber however, remained confident that she would recover.
"She's a fighter. She's going to be great," he said. "I know her very well. And she's like family to me and she's a fighter ... she's strong. She's strong."
Retton's daughter also shared a SpotFund campaign link, revealing that the Olympic icon lacks insurance and needed assistance from her fans
"We ask that if you could help in any way, that 1) you PRAY! and 2) if you could help us with finances for the hospital bill," she wrote in the page description. "ANYTHING, absolutely anything, would be so helpful for my family and my mom. Thank y'all so very much!"
As of Wednesday morning, the campaign had raised over $187,000.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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