Originally appeared on E! Online
Aly Raisman has been fighting a private health battle.
The retired gymnast, who has competed in two Olympic Games, revealed that she’s been hospitalized twice in the last few years with “stroke-like symptoms.”
“I can’t remember my name,” the 30-year-old said on the July 17 episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “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.”
Being treated by doctors was in itself triggering for Raisman. She is one of scores of gymnasts who were sexually abused by former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar, who in 2018 was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for the acts, which he carried out under the guise of medical treatment.
Raisman said her first medical emergency with stroke-like symptoms happened during the COVID pandemic, which meant her mother was not allowed to ride with her in the ambulance that took her to the hospital.
“They’re asking me what my name is, but I can’t remember my name or say what my name is,” she said. “And I was aware enough to know like, ‘Oh my God, I have two men that 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?'”
The athlete continued, “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.”
The second time Raisman was hospitalized with similar symptoms was in 2023.
“They wouldn’t release me because I couldn’t sit up on my own,” she recalled. “I needed help walking, going to the bathroom. It was just the most 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.”
She said stress worsens her physical symptoms, so she is being proactive about her mental health. “I have to be very on top of my therapy,” Raisman said, “but then also my therapist has to work with me if I’m starting to feel off.”
While Raisman has long retired from competing in gymnastics, she will play a special part in the 2024 Olympics in Paris this month — she will be an official hospitality ambassador for the event. She said she feels anxiety about her return to the Olympics.
“There’s going to be a lot of triggers,” the athlete said. “I might see someone that maybe didn’t protect me in the past.”
Raisman said she is excited to watch the Olympics, especially the gymnastics competitions. “It’s so emotional watching everyone,” she said, “and I know everyone works so hard.”
However, she is also relieved that this time, she will be a spectator. “I am having dreams that I’m competing,” she said, “I wake up, I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so glad I’m done.'”
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