Photo:Shayla Kelley Schrepfer/Instagram
Shayla Kelley Schrepfer/Instagram
Shayla Schrepfer is looking back on the “hardest year” of her life.
Mary Lou Retton’s eldest daughtershared her highlights and low momentsof 2023 on Instagram over the weekend, just months after her mother washospitalized with a rare form of pneumonia.
“The highs were SO high, but the lows were the LOWEST lows,” Schrepfer, 28, wrote. “I can easily say 2023 has been the hardest year of my life.”
Schepfer andher younger sisters McKenna, Skyla and Emma Kelleyrallied around their Olympic gold medalist mom when she spent multiple weeks in the ICU at a Houston-area hospital in October, and they posted frequent updates about her condition on social media to Retton’s legion of fans worldwide.
In Schrepfer’s photo montage, snapshots from the tough time include a photo of family members holding Retton’s hands while she lay in a hospital bed and other images of the group spending time in the iconic former gymnast’s hospital room.
In a statement to PEOPLE in October, Schrepfer said the family’s “number one concern is the well being of our mom.”
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By late October, Retton, 55, was discharged from the hospital.
In an update on her mom’s conditionposted on Instagram, McKenna shared the good news.
She continued, “We are overwhelmed with the love and support from everyone. Grateful doesn’t scrape the surface of the posture of our hearts.”
McKenna first broke news that Retton had become ill earlier that month, and sparked an outpouring of support for the beloved retired athlete.
“My amazing mom, Mary Lou, has a very rare form of pneumonia and is fighting for her life," she wrote in a message on a Spotfund fundraising page for Retton, which has since raised over $459,000 — well over its initial $50,000 goal.
On Instagram Saturday, Shayla shared her appreciation for her mom’s fans and followers.“Thank you to everyone that has helped me through such a difficult year,” she wrote. “Bring it on 2024!”
source: people.com
