Katie, on the other hand, was in and out of the hospital after her transplant until the doctors finally told her that they’ve done everything they could for her, putting her in hospice care. “I’ll see him soon”, she said.
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“Our situation hasn’t been ideal, and it hasn’t been the easiest, but the one thing I want people to know is that we still have each other even if it is long-distance”, she told the Post-Dispatch last week.
Following an acceleration of hospital stays starting in their teen years – each of the two battled an additional bacterial infection, burkholderia cepacia, transferred from Dalton to Katie that complicated their illness – the couple entered the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in August 2014. According to Katie’s mother, the couple FaceTimed as Dalton was dying. The book was later made into a movie starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort.
They had stars in their eyes, but knew right away that their romance was doomed. It is a life-threatening disease that clogs the lungs with mucus and makes it hard for the person to breathe.
Dalton had Burkholderia cepacia, a highly contagious infection for people with cystic fibrosis. This can’t be the end of our love story.
Their cases gained nationwide attention when in 2011, they married after a courtship on Facebook.
The day before Dalton died, Katie said she did not feel regretful about their choice to meet face to face. But Katie believed in love, and was determined to take the risk and the fault if the worst happened. The early Christmas celebration was being held in September because Katie’s family wasn’t sure she would still be alive in December.
“‘Do I know you?’ Normally if I got a message from somebody with CF or something along those lines I would usually ignore it”, said Dalton.
In November 2013, Dalton Prager received a double lung transplant, that proved successful. He contracted lymphoma as a result of his transplant, and is now fighting pneumonia and a virus. People reported that the couple never fully recovered from their transplants.
Unfortunately, the transplant failed, and doctors told her that they had no other ways to help her.
Katie and Dalton Prager, a real-life “Fault in our Stars’ couple”.
The last time Katie and Dalton saw each other was July 16, their fifth wedding anniversary.
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On Facebook she wrote of her husband’s passing: “My angel, my best friend, the love of my life, my husband went to be with the Lord our God today”.
