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Aly Raisman has revealed that she was “hospitalized” on multiple occasions after experiencing “stroke-like symptoms.”
The 30-year-old retired gymnast spoke candidly about her physical health during an episode of Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast, which aired on July 17. She noted that amid experiences of trauma and stress, she was “hospitalized several times,” which was something she “never shared publicly” before. Raisman went on to describe some of the symptoms she experienced, while noting that during two occasions when she was hospitalized, it was quite “intense.”
“I feel like I have different minor issues as well, depending on what I’m going through at the time, where I have literally stroke-like symptoms,” she said. “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.”
She explained that when she was first hospitalized, her doctors had “absolutely no idea” what her condition was. Raisman highlighted how “scary” it was for her to be surrounded by doctors, considering she was one of the hundreds of women who were sexually assaulted by former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar.
“The first time it happened was during COVID. And so, they wouldn’t let my mom in the ambulance with me,” Raisman recalled about the hospitalization. “I can understand what someone is saying to me and asking me, like, I know they’re asking me what my name is, but I can’t remember my name or say what it is. I was aware enough to know, like, ‘Oh, my God, I have two men… I can’t move my arms and my legs, I can’t move my body, I can’t speak. What if they take advantage of me?’”
She added that she was “really still struggling a lot” with her PTSD when she was first hospitalized, which occurred a few years after she came forward as a victim of Nassar. The former doctor is currently serving a 40 to 175-year prison sentence on seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and possession of child pornography.
“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,” Raisman added, before noting that she was hospitalized a second time “a little bit over a year ago.”
She went on to explain how terrifying the experience was, detailing why she had to be in the hospital for “three days.”
“They wouldn’t release me because I couldn’t, like, sit up on my own. It took me so long. I needed help walking, going to the bathroom,” Raisman said. “To go from being an athlete and being able to push myself so much, to literally not even be able to move my fingers, move my legs. I had like complete body paralysis, and not even to know what my own name is. It was so scary.”
She shared that she now prioritizes her health on a “daily basis” by managing her stress, which she said “exacerbates” her symptoms. Although she didn’t specify what her health condition was, she expressed it was “a real medical thing.”
“I have to be very on top of my therapy,” she added. “But then also my therapist has to work with me if I start to feel off… So it’s very hard and very interesting.”
Raisman also claimed that doctors had disregarded her symptoms when she was hospitalized the second time, as she couldn’t lift her leg or say her own name. However, she alleged that when the doctors realized who she was, after her mother had spoken up, their behavior changed.
“My mom was like, ‘Do you know who Aly Raisman is?’ And [the doctors] were like, ‘Yeah we know who she is.’ And my mom was like, ‘Well that’s her,’” she recalled. “And then from there, they took such great care of me and were there for me. And I want to share that because it’s appalling. Like it doesn’t matter who you are, everyone deserves to get excellent medical treatment.”
