Profile in courage

Soulful survivors: Couple finds strength and spiritual determination from wife's illness

In April 2010, a sudden illness turned Eileen and Pete Ueberroth’s life upside down, with doctors worried Eileen wouldn’t survive through the night. Now, more than 10 years later, their journey through troubled times is marked by their faith in God and a renewed commitment to live out their wedding vows for the rest of their days.

BY ELISHA VALLADARES-CORMIER

Most days, Eileen Ueberroth lies in bed and prays her rosary before Pete, her husband of 52 years, rises. Once he does, they eat breakfast, walk a couple of miles, and return home. It might seem similar to the morning routines of other couples. Except it’s not.

You see, Eileen must wait for Pete to wake up because he has to put on her prosthetic legs. Pete also makes her breakfast and helps her shower after their walk. Eileen is a quad amputee and relies on Pete – her “hero” – to help her do most things. But despite the obstacles they have faced, Eileen approaches each day with a smile on her face and a prayer of thanksgiving.

“I have a lot to be thankful for,” she said. “I thank God every day for what was spared.”

The couple met in 1967 at a Halloween gathering of the Toledo Council of Catholic Young Adults. They married in September 1969 and raised three sons – Marty, Matthew and Adam – while being active members of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in East Toledo. Eileen worked as a hairdresser while Pete made a career as an agent with the Internal Revenue Service. After retiring from the IRS in 2003, Pete worked as the Diocese of Toledo’s archivist.

Everything changed after visiting family in Florida for Easter 2010. Adam and his wife had just told the Ueberroths they were expecting their first child, and parents Pete and Eileen were ecstatic.

But upon returning to Toledo, Eileen began feeling seriously ill, and it was clear she needed to go to the hospital. When they arrived at Mercy Health St. Charles Hospital, doctors said Eileen had fallen into septic shock, a process when the body and its organs start shutting down. The next 24 hours would determine whether she would live or not, they told Pete.

Pete and Eileen share a devotion to Mary and a particular love for the rosary.

PHOTO BY CHLOE BATARA/SPECIAL TO THE DIOCESE OF TOLEDO

“It was a nightmare,” Pete said about the waiting period. “Without my faith, I wouldn’t have gotten through it because you can’t do something like that on your own.”

Eileen survived the night but was unconscious for 12 days. She woke up to the doctor’s proposed plan: to survive, she would need her hands and likely her legs amputated.

“All I wanted to see was my granddaughter be born,” Eileen said. Over the next five months, she had stays in five different facilities before returning home in September. Her legs were amputated up to her knee, and her arms to just below the wrist. She had experienced kidney failure, liver failure, and congestive heart failure. Just 5% of people her age should have survived what she endured, doctors told her.

The Ueberroths have no doubt her survival was the work of prayer and God’s will. They had friends all over the world praying for Eileen’s recovery: A classmate of Pete’s in Africa, a religious sister they knew in New Guinea, prayer blankets sent from Florida.

Peter and Eileen, surrounded by their family, received a Diocese of Toledo Open Arms Award for being Catholics with disabilities and their advocates who model Christian service in 2021.

PHOTO BY CHLOE BATARA/SPECIAL TO THE DIOCESE OF TOLEDO

“With all the people praying for me, I don’t think God had a choice,” Eileen said. “He had to save me.”

Adjusting to a new normal wasn’t easy for Eileen and Pete, who received the diocese’s Open Arms Award in 2021, which is given to Catholics with disabilities and their advocates who model Christian service. For them, it was an opportunity to grow in their love for each other.

“I think it strengthened our marriage because you see what you would do to help each other out,” Eileen said. “We take our vows seriously.”

Pete tells people, “This is what I signed up for, ‘for better or for worse.’ I’m here to do whatever it takes – hands, feet, arms.

“Anything but do her hair,” he adds with a chuckle. “I still can’t do that like she can.”

Prayer remains central to their married life. Pete has been making rosaries since he was 12 years old, and they are greatly devoted to the Blessed Virgin. Eileen prays daily to St. Anthony, her favorite saint, and Pete frequently looks to St. Pio of Pietrelcina for his intercession.

“Faith is a gift from God, and I figure it’s to be shared,” Eileen said. “I mean, how can you not have faith when you look at me and see this miracle?”

Prosthetic legs do not slow down Eileen. Pete and Eileen take daily strolls around their neighborhood.

PHOTO BY CHLOE BATARA/SPECIAL TO THE DIOCESE OF TOLEDO

Eileen knows how lucky she is and wants other amputees also to have hope. Since her recovery, she has been asked to raise awareness by speaking at churches and schools, as well as visiting other amputees. She was on one such visit when she introduced herself as an amputee. The amputee lying on the hospital bed was shocked, asking, “And you walked in here?” “Yup, and you will, too,” Eileen responded.

To couples who find themselves in similar situations, Pete wants them to know, “It’s not the end of everything. You have to support each other, be true to your vows. And you have to pray.”