It’s been a tough year for McKayla Maroney. In April 2018, she broke her silence about her former team doctor Larry Nassar and now, she’s revealed to fans that her father, Mike Maroney, passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 15, in the early morning.

The 23-year-old former gymnast took to Twitter to share a heartwarming tribute to her dad. “Love u, dad,” she wrote. “I can’t believe it’s real. I don’t want to. I’ll miss you forever. Rest in peace. You were the most incredible dad.”

Her brother, Kav Maroney, also shared a sweet post about his father on Instagram. “Dad, you taught me everything. From how to walk, to how to be a man, and for that, I thank you,” he said. “Thank you for getting up at 4:30 a.m. for work and not coming home till 7 p.m. every day for more than 20 years, just to keep food on the table, and for us to have a great life. I’m the man of the house now, and I promise to hold everything down. I promise. I love you and miss you, and I will live to make you proud till the day I get to see you again. I love you, dad.” Neither Kav or McKayla have revealed the cause of death.

The athlete talked about her traumatic experiences with Larry in April on an episode of Dateline. “He told me he was going to do a checkup on me and that was the first day I was abused,” she recalled. McKayla is one of more than 265 girls and women who spoke out against Larry and said that he had molested them. Her fellow teammates Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber also experienced Larry’s “treatments.”

In 2015, McKayla finally understood that what Larry had been doing to her was wrong, and decided to tell her story. Still, she was an emotional wreck. “I was so sick,” she said. “I was having panic attacks. I was suicidal.”

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Dad you taught me everything from how to walk to how to be a man and for that I thank you. Thank you for getting up at 4:30am for work and not coming home till 7 pm everyday for more then 20 years just to keep food on the table, and for us to have a great life. I’m the man of the house now and I promise to hold everything down. I promise. I love you and miss you i will live to make you proud till The day i get to see you again. I love you dad

A post shared by @ kavmaroney_ on

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Fortunately, the former gymnastics doctor was sentenced to 40 to 125 years in prison for multiple counts of criminal sexual assault.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to McKayla during this tough time.

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