This birth was a miracle, but fate struck mercilessly in the end.
When little Caterina Rosi was born, her mother was in a coma. Now, her child has passed away.
What this young family had to go through is hard to believe: Cristina Rosi from Arezzo in Tuscany was seven months pregnant when she suffered a heart attack in July 2020.
Her husband, Gabriele, shared at the time: "The doctors did a great job and saved the lives of my wife and daughter thanks to an emergency C-section."
However, the lack of oxygen left both mother and child seriously damaged. The intensive medical treatment tore them apart. For months, Mama Cristina fought back to life in special clinics in Tyrol and Austria. Eleven months would pass before Cristina awoke from her coma - and learned that she had become a mother. She was 37 years old.
"A real joy after so much suffering."
But even then, she was still far from being able to hold her baby in her arms, and little Caterina could not feel the warmth of her mother. Their treatments and therapies were far from over. Gabriele had to commute between home and the clinics and start a fundraising campaign to pay for his wife's expensive treatment and transport from abroad.
Full of hope, the husband said, "To see her progress today and all the trials she had to overcome just a few months ago, it seems like a miracle to me."
Then, in July, the big day finally arrived: after 16 months, Cristina could return to Italy and hold her child in her arms.
"Even though we still have a lot of work to do, our return marks a new beginning," Gabriele said, both overjoyed at the same time.
But there was not to be a happy ending for the family. In November, Catarina's condition worsened, and again doctors fought for the child's life. Unfortunately, she did not make it.
In a Facebook post, her dad wrote, "My dear ... you are and always will be my special girl, but unfortunately, life has not been kind to you. ... This is the worst day of my life."
In addition, he sent words of gratitude to all those who stood by the family during the difficult time and helped to cope at least with the financial burden of the treatment costs.
"Caterina, you are my little princess," Gabriele finally writes, "you will surely be in a better place with less suffering. One day we will meet again, and I will finally see you smiling and running."
