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Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, 30, is opening up on her health.
During an appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Raisman revealed that she was hospitalized twice for “stroke-like symptoms.”
She explained, “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.”
Aly’s first hospitalization came during the COVID-19 lockdown, which meant that her mom was unable to accompany her.
She recalled, “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 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?'”
Raisman was one of the gymnasts who accused Larry Nassar of sexual assault. In 2017, Nassar pleaded guilty to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct of minors under the age of 16.
She emphasized, “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.”
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Last year, Raisman was hospitalized again.
She shared, “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 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.”
Raisman stressed the importance of prioritizing one’s mental health, saying, “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.”