Two People from Minnesota Who Met in the Hospital After Waking up from Comas Are Getting Married

Zach Zarembinski and Isabelle Richards – credit, family photo

Everyone knows love works in mysterious ways; but rarely more mysterious than in the story of Zach and Isabelle.

Partners in life and partners in podcasting, it was 7 years ago that the two Minnesotans were partners of a distinctly less pleasant kind.

At 18, Zach Zarembinski was rushed to Regions Hospital in St. Paul in a coma after suffering a traumatic brain injury on the high school football field. At 16, Isabelle Richards arrived 9 days later in a coma after a car crash on her way to a grocery store job.

There they lay, shattered, unconscious, and together. Alongside them, their mothers feared the worst, having been told by the medical staff to prepare for the same. But they supported each other.

“I remember she was laying there. She had shards of glass still in her hair and she was unconscious,” Esther Wilzbacher, Richard’s mother, recalled.

“Isabel had to have her right skull piece removed. Zach had to have his left skull piece removed.”credit – family photo

Despite the doctor’s warnings, it wasn’t to be the end of Zach’s journey, and the footballer woke up. Days later when he was ready, he came downstairs for a hospital news conference which was broadcast in Richard’s room, where her father and aunt saw it and suggested they go down to speak with the teen.

Wilzbacher said that Zarembinski told her that her daughter would be fine, and sure enough, she was. After Richards woke up and recovered, the mothers organized a dinner together.

“Said a couple kind words to Isabelle and that was it for six years,” Zarembinski told Boyd Huppert at KARE 11 News’ “Land of 10,000 Stories.”

Zach and Isabelle after they’d both woken up – credit family photo

But 6 years later, the mothers organized a reunion of sorts.

A Facebook friend request, a first date, a year of dates, and then… another hospital news conference.

In Regions Hospital, at the same spot where Zarembinski gave a conference as a teen, the pair of TBI survivors recorded a special episode of their podcast Hope in Healing.

After reading out Joel 2:25 and John 10:10, Zarembinski asked Richards to marry her, and the hospital staff that had ensured they both survived erupted into applause as she said yes.Partners in comatose, partners podcasting, and now, partners for life. Mysterious ways. Two People from Minnesota Who Met in the Hospital After Waking up from Comas Are Getting Married

Read More........→December 05, 2025

RSV infections in babies may raise asthma risk later, vaccine offers hope: Study

(Photo: AI generated image/IANS)

New Delhi, (IANS) An international team of scientists has found compelling evidence that early-infancy infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) significantly increases the risk of developing childhood asthma.

The risk is especially higher in children with a family history of allergy or asthma.

The study, published in the Science Immunology journal, suggests that protecting newborns against RSV could substantially reduce asthma cases later in life.

"Childhood asthma is a complex disease with many contributing factors," said Prof. Bart Lambrecht from VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology) and Ghent University in Belgium.

"We found that early-life RSV infection and genetic allergy risk interact in a very specific way that pushes the immune system toward asthma. The encouraging news is that this process can be prevented," Lambrecht added.

The team, including researchers from Denmark, combined population-wide health registry data from all Danish children and their parents with controlled laboratory experiments. They found that early viral infection and inherited allergy risk amplify one another.

Infants who experience severe RSV infections in the first months of life show an increased likelihood of immune cells overreacting to common allergens, such as house dust mites.

This effect is dramatically intensified when asthma or allergy runs in the family, as allergen-specific antibodies passed from parents to the newborn further heighten sensitivity.

Importantly, the team found that when newborns were protected from RSV in experimental models, these harmful immune shifts did not occur -- and asthma development was prevented.

"With RSV prevention now becoming widely accessible, we have an opportunity to improve long-term respiratory health, not just prevent RSV hospitalisations," said Prof. Hamida Hammad (VIB-UGent).

"This is not just a laboratory insight. It's a message that should help parents choose RSV prevention with confidence," Hammad added.

Maternal vaccination during the third trimester of pregnancy and passive immunisation of newborns with long-acting antibodies are being introduced in many countries. Yet despite their strong ability to prevent RSV hospitalisations, uptake remains inconsistent."This is a moment where policy, science, and paediatricians can come together," Lambrecht said. “If preventing RSV infection also reduces asthma risk, the benefits for families and health systems could be enormous.” RSV infections in babies may raise asthma risk later, vaccine offers hope: Study | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com

Read More........→December 05, 2025