Cystic fibrosis patient dies 5 days after husband passes on

Katie Prager, one half of the so-called “Fault in Our Stars” couple that made global headlines, has died in Kentucky of complications from cystic fibrosis.

Dalton had been in the intensive care unit for about two weeks before he died while Katie was in hospice in Flemingsburg, Kentucky. The couple battled terminal lung disease. Her husband, Dalton Prager, 25, passed on Sunday in Missouri.

Katie and Dalton were transferred to the University of Cincinnati Hospital, where both were placed on full-time oxygen and referred to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, because it would transplant a lung into a patient with the infection.

Dalton died Saturday, hours before the family gathering. Dalton Prager had pneumonia and had been on a ventilator.

Visitation and funeral arrangements for Katie Prager are pending. I am thankful she got to spend time with her family Saturday, as hard as it was after watching her husband pass.

Katie’s transplant never worked well.

She developed lymphoma and had kidney failure.

Katie had been unable to visit Dalton, because she was too sick in hospice at her Flemingsburg, Kentucky home since September 7. Dalton moved back to suburban St. Louis after a 2014 lung transplant so his parents could care for him, and until his death had hoped to see his wife one last time before she passed away.

The last time they saw each other was July 16, their fifth wedding anniversary.

Unexpectedly, Dalton’s condition took a turn for the worse, delaying the reunion. Katie noticed that Dalton’s mother had posted a photo of Dalton in the hospital.

They had been able to see each other by way of FaceTime communications before he died.

“Early this morning, she gained her wish of being at home, in her bed, surrounded by her mom, dad, brother and her dogs, dying peacefully, away from the hospital, tubes, IVs”, her mother, Debra Donovan, posted on Facebook.