Olympian Aly Raisman Hospitalized Twice For ‘Complete Body Paralysis’
This is so scary!
Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman sat down on the Call Her Daddy podcast on Wednesday and revealed that she’s been struggling with a private health battle for the last few years. The 30-year-old retired athlete explained that she was hospitalized twice over the last couple of years due to “stroke-like symptoms.” And it sounds scary AF! She explained:
“It’s happened twice where it’s been this intense — I feel like I have different minor issues as well, depending on what I’m going through at the time — where, like, I have literally stroke-like symptoms. I can’t remember my name. I’m slurring my words. I can barely speak. Both times I was tested for a stroke because I literally couldn’t move my body. It was so scary.”
Yikes!
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This was all made even worse due to her history as one of former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar‘s sexual abuse victims. The experience of not being in control of her body — and then being around a bunch of male doctors — was very triggering. Aly recalled the first time this happened was during COVID, so her mother was not allowed to ride with her in the ambulance. She shared:
“They’re asking me what my name is, but I can’t remember my name or say what my name is. And I was aware enough to know like, ‘Oh my God, I have two men [with me], I can’t move my arms and my legs. I can’t move my body. I can’t speak. Like, what if they take advantage of me?’”
Oh, no. Addressing her mental health challenges, she added:
“I was like really still struggling a lot with PTSD. People don’t realize how much it still lives with you when you’ve been through something traumatic. So, that was really hard for me.”
This happened again “a little bit over a year ago” — and it landed her in the hospital for another “scary” three days, she said:
“They wouldn’t release me because I couldn’t sit up on my own. I needed help walking, going to the bathroom. It was just the most [difficult] to be able to go from being like an athlete and being able to push myself so much to being able to literally not even be able to move my fingers, move my legs. I had complete body paralysis.”
Also problematic? She claimed the doctors initially “ignored” her at the hospital until they realized who she was — thanks to her mother, who advocated for her. She dished:
“It’s appalling. Everyone deserves to get excellent medical treatment. It wasn’t until they realized that I was a very high-level athlete, that they were very nice to me and taking care of me, which is also triggering for me because I already have trust issues with doctors.”
That’s not okay! Gosh, how frustrating to have to face so many triggers when you’re already going through a traumatic physical experience! We’re so sorry for her.
It’s unclear what her specific diagnosis was, but she noted that stress tends to “exacerbate” her physical symptoms, which she called “a real medical thing.” So, she’s making sure to keep her mental health a priority. She noted:
“I have to be very on top of my therapy, but then also my therapist has to work with me if I’m starting to feel off.”
So important to take care of yourself! And she’s going to need to rely on her therapist and mental health strategies a lot later this month when she heads to the Paris Olympics as an official hospitality ambassador — something she has mixed feelings about, as she expressed:
“I’m gonna be so busy. There’s going to be a lot of triggers. I might see someone that maybe didn’t protect me in the past. So, it’s working on that. It’s very complicated.”
That said, she is looking forward to attending, too. The Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything author added:
“It’s so emotional watching everyone, and I know everyone works so hard.”
Plus, she’s thrilled just to be a fan this time! She joked:
“I am having dreams that I’m competing. I wake up, I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so glad I’m done.’”
We hope she has fun! And that it doesn’t cause any health issues! Sounds like she’s been through so much! Thoughts? Let us know (below).
[Image via BBC News/Olympics/YouTube]
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