McKenna Kelley, the daughter of Mary Lou Retton who posted a crowdsourcing request for her mother that has now reached $459,324, said in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY Sports that she and her sisters never expected to get so much money from the public and were “so overwhelmed” by the response.
“I don’t know if that’s ignorant of us or if that was just sweet,” said Kelley, 26. “This was not supposed to be a big media thing. … We didn’t even think about what this would turn into. It was simply four daughters who felt helpless who wanted to help their mom who knew that this would help take a burden off.”
On Oct. 30, Retton wrote on Instagram that she was “with family continuing to slowly recover and staying very positive as I know this recovery is a long and slow process.”
Asked repeatedly by USA TODAY Sports to comment, Retton has declined.
Kelley said that after her mother’s medical bills are paid, the family plans to donate ‘all remaining funds’ to a charity of her mother’s choice. Neither Kelley nor Retton would comment on how much of the $459,324 from the account at spotfund.com has been spent or what amount would be given 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 Oct. 10. “She’s been in the ICU for over a week now. Out of respect for her and her privacy, I will not disclose all details. However, I will disclose that she (is) not insured.”
When asked in the interview with USA TODAY Sports why her mother wasn’t covered by medical insurance, Kelley said that Retton could not get affordable health care because of pre-existing conditions, which she said include “over 30 orthopedic surgeries, including four hip replacements. She’s in chronic pain every day.”
Said Kelley: “Due to her medical history and the amount of surgeries she has endured from gymnastics and just life, it’s unaffordable for her.”
When told that an insurance agent contacted by USA TODAY Sports found two plans charging $545 and $680 per month for which someone with her mother’s medical history would qualify, Kelley said that Retton had once been covered by health insurance but “because she was not able 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 didn’t, and then she got sick,” Kelley said.
Retton remains popular in Olympic circles, with a speaking fee that is believed to be at least $25,000. She and her husband, former University of Texas quarterback Shannon Kelley, 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, with her mother in the hospital, Kelley said, she and her three sisters made the decision to raise money for their mother online from both friends and strangers.
“This is genuinely four daughters concerned for their mom, that was it,” Kelley said. “I know I keep saying that but that is truly where our hearts were when we started this; we felt so helpless. Her breathing was out of our control. The only thing that we could do to help that was in our control was what if we start a GoFundMe, what if we start a spotfund, people can help.”
Said Kelley: “When we asked for help, when we put this out there, we didn’t think of how this would turn out because she’s not Mary Lou Retton to us. She’s our mom. She would ground us, she would make us clean our room, she’d make us dinner, she’d be the shoulder to cry on, she is the joy and light of our lives and we wanted to help.”
