Following the announcement that Catherine O’Hara has died at the age of 71, the world is reeling from her loss.

Her Home Alone and Schitt’s Creek collaborators Macaulay Culkin and Eugene and Dan Levy have so far led tributes, describing her as a ‘gift.’

The cause of Catherine’s death hasn’t been announced, but it follows a ‘brief illness.’ She died at her home in Los Angeles on Friday.

When her sons were little, though, Catherine learned that she was living with a unique medical condition, which doctors happened upon almost by accident.

Catherine previously revealed that she was diagnosed with situs inversus after she went to hospital with her son, as she and her husband had been asked to take some tests ahead of him starting nursery.

And when the nurse did a scan on her, she thought, at first, there was a problem with the machine.

‘I don’t even know the name because I don’t want to know the name,’ she said during an interview with Katherine Hall in 2021.

‘People are going to think I’m so ignorant not to know the name, but I kind of don’t want to know, because I didn’t know before that.’

Catherine added that she’s one of seven children, and by the time she was diagnosed when her sons were little, her parents were no longer alive.

So, she subsequently had no other knowledge of anyone in her family who was living with the same condition, including her siblings.

She added: ‘When my doctor told us that my heart was on the right side and my organs were flipped, my husband immediately said: “No, her head’s on backwards.”‘

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What is situs inversus?

According to the NHS, situs inversus means that ‘major organs are on a different side of the body to normal – for example, heart on the right rather than the left.’

Guidance published on the Cleveland Clinic website adds that the rare condition is caused by ‘various genetic mutations,’ and that it can develop by itself, but it’s typically linked to other medical issues.

Patients with situs inversus might have their liver and gallbladder on the left side of their bodies rather than their right, or their stomach and spleen might be on their right side rather than their left.

Around 1 in every 10,000 people lives with the condition, and it’s more likely to be diagnosed in men than women.

Situs inversus is often seen in people who have been diagnosed with a condition called primary ciliary dyskinesia, which impacts the small, hair-like structures that help to clear mucus from the airways.

There are a few different types of situs inversus, including:

• Dextrocardia with situs inversus, which occurs when the ‘tip of your heart points toward the right side of your chest.’ Other organs are also flipped, according to the Cleveland Clinic
• Levocardia with situs inversus, which means that the heart is pointing towards the left of the chest, as it normally would, but the other organs are inverted. This type is known to be rarer, and is ‘frequently associated with other cardiac defects.’

Catherine was best known for roles such as Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice (1988) and Macaulay Culkin’s on-screen mother, Kate, in Home Alone (1990) and its Lost in New York sequel (1992).

Following her death, Macaulay wrote on his Instagram: ‘Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you but I had so much more to say. I love you. I’ll see you later.’

She was also a frequent collaborator of Tim Burton’s, having voiced the beloved Sally in The Nightmare Before Christmas, three characters, including Victor’s mother, in Frankenweenie, and revived her role of the eccentric Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in 2024.

Her portrayal of the former soap opera star wife of Johnny Rose in Schitt’s Creek saw her take home a Golden Globe and a Critics’ Choice Award, marking the pinnacle of a years-long friendship with Eugene Levy.

In 2020, Catherine won the Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for her performance, saying in her acceptance speech: ‘I will forever be grateful to Eugene and Daniel Levy for the opportunity to play a woman of a certain age, my age, who gets to fully be herself.’

She leaves behind her husband of more than 30 years, Bo Welch, and their two sons, Matthew and Luke Welch.

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