A former “Dancing with the Stars” contestant has opened up about the health struggles she navigated as an adult. Season 16 DWTS alum Aly Raisman earned six Olympic medals as a gymnast. However, the training and experience took a major toll on her.
“I’ve never actually shared this publicly at all…I have actually been hospitalized several times” in response to how her body has handled the trauma and abuse she endured.
“I have literally stroke-like symptoms,” Raisman revealed.
Aly Raisman ‘Literally Couldn’t Move My Body’
Raisman joined podcaster Alex Cooper for the July 17 “Call Her Daddy” podcast episode.
The “Dancing with the Stars” alum revealed she has been hospitalized more than once over the past few years after having “stroke-like symptoms.” She believes the symptoms or episodes developed as a response to all she experienced as a gymnast in her younger years.
When she has these episodes, Raisman “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,” the “Dancing with the Stars” alum added.
Raisman admitted, “It was so scary. And the first time the doctors had absolutely no idea what it was.”
She explained that an added layer of stress with these episodes was the fact a doctor was responsible for the abuse she endured years ago.
In January 2018, Raisman spoke at the sentencing for former team doctor Larry Nassar. She shared insight on how the abuse she endured with him impacted her.
During the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Raisman shared the first hospitalization happened during COVID-19. Her mother couldn’t even ride with her in the ambulance due to COVID-19 restrictions in place.
Raisman couldn’t speak, but “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. What if they take advantage of me?”
The second episode happened about a year ago, Raisman noted. She was hospitalized for three days and “it was really scary. I remember they wouldn’t release me because I couldn’t sit up on my own.”
The “Dancing with the Stars” alum needed help to do everything. She not only couldn’t remember her name or sit up, and she also had “like complete body paralysis.”
The DWTS Alum Feels ‘Exhausted’ By All She Experienced As a Gymnast
Now, Raisman knows she needs to manage her stress to avoid further episodes. She admitted she’s concerned about whether something might happen while she’s in Paris, France for the 2024 Summer Olympics. “There’s gonna be a lot of triggers,” she acknowledged.
During the podcast, Raisman also opened up about the pressure she felt to be thin and the bullying she received from kids at school.
“This has affected me so much that at 30 years old, I have just started to be able to wear sleeveless or tank dresses. And it makes me so sad that I wasted that much time,” Raisman revealed.
The “Dancing with the Stars” alum noted she has done a lot of therapy to work through these things. “It’s amazing how much stuff sticks with us…I think that’s also why I have anxiety or social anxiety,” Raisman noted.
“I actually feel like my body has never recovered from being that thin,” she explained.
“I’m still exhausted from it,” the 30-year-old admitted. She added, “I’m still recovering from that.”
Raisman’s fans loved the podcast episode.
“By sharing, you are doing so much good in the world. I honestly teared up a couple times,” one person commented on Instagram.
Another podcast listener commented that Raisman “is so well spoken, open and honest. I was inspired by this conversation!”
Someone else noted, “I’m so sorry this happened to you and I pray you get stronger every day and take your life back. 🙏🏻💪🏻🤍”
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