Siouxland teen finally home after receiving a lifesaving lung transplant

SIOUX CITY (KTIV) - Katie Hoskins had been in the Hospital since October of 2022.

She was diagnosed with pulmonary veno-occlusive disease.

When she finally got to return home, she was greeted with a surprise celebration with people who supported her through every step of the journey.

This was Katie Hoskins reaction when she finally returned home to the small town of Soldier, IA.

“I was in awe, I thought I was just going to drive up the dirt road and see my family, but seeing people from church, and people from all over town, and people from my school, it’s amazing,” said Katie Hoskins.

After numerous doctor and ER visits when the initial symptoms were showing, the Hoskins family still didn’t have an answer to what was wrong.

Then an incident occurred at home and while Katie was about to be placed in the ambulance, her mom was concerned.

“I said, no something is wrong, and we need to figure this out and you’re going to take her to the hospital. At the time as they were getting ready to load her up, I said, this is forever going to be ringing in my ears I said I don’t know what’s wrong but we’re not going to leave the hospital until we figure this out,” said Vera Hoskins.

At that point Vera didn’t know that it would take 4 months and 3 different hospitals before Katie would be back home.

Katie loves to sing, and at this point it was uncertain if anyone would be able to enjoy the sound of Katie’s voice.

“Certain songs come on the radio and make me think of here, the day before she went into the hospital, I actually have a recording of her singing Halo by Beyonce, and when she went into the hospital and we didn’t know if she was going to survive, I wondered if I would ever hear her sing again,” said Vera.

In that moment the Hoskins turned to the power of prayer.

“It’s a lot of prayer, a lot of hope, a lot of faith that you have to have in a situation where you finally feel absolutely powerless,” said Adam Hoskins, Katie’s father.

While life for Katie and her family will now take some getting used to, she is grateful for all the support from everyone along the way.

If you would like to support Katie’s family, you can find the link to there go fund me account here.

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