Little Catherine Artz "beat the odds," her doctor said

NEED TO KNOW

• A baby born in South Dakota during a blizzard in early 2025 nearly died after experiencing pulmonary hypertension
• Catherine Artz had to wait to be transferred to a nearby hospital, where her condition continued to worsen
• The baby made a miraculous turnaround after a priest baptized her and prayed over her

A baby born during a blizzard last year then nearly died from health complications. Today, she is home and gearing up for her first birthday.

Andrea and Wyatt Artz welcomed daughter Catherine Artz in Ortonville, Minn., in early 2025, according to local station KELO.

Before the little girl was delivered at Ortonville Area Health Services, medical partner Sanford Health said “Andrea’s pregnancy and delivery were completely normal.”

Andrea now tells PEOPLE that just five minutes after Catherine was born on March 4, 2025, she told Sanford Health that the baby’s oxygen saturation levels “were abnormally low.”

Catherine had heart, lung and kidney complications that doctors said were caused by pulmonary hypertension, according to KELO.

Pulmonary hypertension is described by the Mayo Clinic as “a type of high blood pressure that affects the arteries in the lungs and the right side of the heart.”

Doctors tried to find a nearby hospital where Catherine could receive a higher level of care, but a blizzard initially prevented them from doing so, according to Sanford Health.

Hours after the storm cleared, Catherine was flown to Sioux Falls, S.D., where she was treated at Sanford Children’s Hospital.

There, an echocardiogram revealed both that the right side of Catherine’s heart was underdeveloped and that she had abnormally high pressure in both her heart and lungs.

Catherine was placed on a heart and lung bypass machine and received dialysis that same day, according to KELO.

But her condition still worsened. At one point, her dad says, “They weren’t sure she was going to make it through the night.”

A priest even came in and baptized the child before he “distributed communion to us” and “laid the host on her and prayed over her,” Wyatt told Sanford Health.

After that, Catherine slowly began to improve. Sanford pediatric nephrologist Dr. Emily Zangla said “Catherine beat the odds,” according to KELO.

“In moments like that, it's really hard to have faith that she would pull through,” mom Andrea tells PEOPLE. “I think the most important thing would be to keep your faith and even when times are hard. And, yeah, just pray hard.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

After 107 days at the hospital, Andrea says, her daughter went home for the first time on June 18, 2025.

Since then, Catherine has been doing "really good" at home and has turned out to be a very "determined" little girl, Andrea says.

"She's been loving going outside and playing with the animals that we have and with her [two] sisters," Andrea explains, noting that Catherine "completely" stopped using a gastrostomy tube about two months ago.

Soon, Catherine will be a big sister herself: Andrea is expecting her fourth child, on March 12, just eight days after Catherine marks her first birthday.

Later this year, Andrea hopes to start a new tradition of visiting the Ronald McDonald House in Sioux Falls every year on June 18th, to celebrate Catherine's release from the hospital.

"I don't know what we would've done if we didn't have that," she says, adding that the staff there "were really, really helpful."

Source link