Catherine O’Hara Passes Away at 71
Catherine O’Hara, a celebrated figure in Hollywood, is widely recognized for her performances in “Schitt’s Creek,” “Home Alone,” and as the voice of Sally in “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” She died on January 30 at the age of 71.
Before her passing, O’Hara had been diagnosed with a rare medical condition known as right heart sitting inversion. In a virtual event back in 2020, she mentioned this diagnosis to her friend Kathryn Hall, discussing how she discovered the condition later than most would expect.
Dextrocardia is a congenital heart defect where the heart is situated on the right side of the chest rather than the left. While right heart disease might not typically cause issues, it often accompanies other ailments affecting vital organs, including the heart and lungs. Interestingly, this condition can also lead to other organs being positioned on the opposite side of the body. Still, it’s unclear if O’Hara’s condition had any role in her death.
“I’m a bit of a weirdo, you know!” O’Hara shared her experience of learning about her diagnosis over twenty years ago while at the hospital with her husband, Beau Welch. “I appreciate Western medicine, but I prefer not to engage with it too deeply. When my youngest son was in nursery school, I needed a tuberculosis test. I went to my husband’s doctor, who suggested some baseline tests, including an electrocardiogram,” she recalled.
Upon revealing the diagnosis, the doctor remarked, “You’re the first person I’ve ever met!” O’Hara humorously admitted her hesitation about fully understanding the terms used, saying, “It’s cardiorespiratory reversed. I don’t even really want to know; I mean, I didn’t know prior.” She also mentioned her concern for her siblings, wondering about the positioning of their hearts after learning about her own.
O’Hara’s passing followed a brief illness. According to her representative, she died at her home in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Fire Department reported that emergency responders were called to her Brentwood residence early on that Friday, and she was transported to a local hospital, where her condition was critical. She was pronounced dead a few hours later.
