The comedy legend previously revealed she had cardiac inversus, or dextrocardia with situs inversus, meaning her heart and other internal organs were flipped.

Catherine O’Hara had a rare medical condition: What she said about situs inversus before her death

The comedy legend previously revealed she had cardiac inversus, or dextrocardia with situs inversus, meaning her heart and other internal organs were flipped.

By Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author. Her work has previously appeared in *TV Guide Magazine*, E! News/E! Online, *The Hollywood Reporter*, Mashable, Bustle, IGN, DCComics.com, Inverse, *The Daily Northwestern*, and more.

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January 30, 2026 5:30 p.m. ET

Catherine O'Hara in 2024. Credit:

Mike Marsland/WireImage

Before her death, Catherine O'Hara revealed that she had a rare medical condition.

The beloved *Schitt's Creek* star died Friday at age 71 "following a brief illness," according to her representatives. Authorities report that the actor died at the hospital, while her reps shared in a statement that she died at home. According to her reps, her family does not wish to provide further details.

A cause of death has not been shared at the time of publishing, but the veteran actor previously opened up about her diagnosis of situs inversus totalis.

According to the National Library of Medicine, the rare congenital abnormality (also known as cardiac inversus, or dextrocardia with situs inversus) is a condition in which a person's heart and other vital internal organs are located on the opposite side of their body. Essentially, their abdominal and thoracic organs are a "mirror-image" of what most people's look like. The condition is asymptomatic on its own but can cause complications.

Catherine O'Hara.

Michael Kovac/Getty

"I'm a freak, yeah!" O'Hara joked during a 2021 interview while revealing her rare condition.

She explained that she learned about her diagnosis during a routine tuberculosis test with her husband, Bo Welch, before their son started nursery school. She realized something was off after taking an EKG when the nurse kept making her take new tests using different machines, and the doctor ultimately required her to get a chest X-ray.

"He calls us into his office and says, 'You're the first one I've met!'" O'Hara remembered the doctor saying in his excitement over diagnosing the rare case. "I don't even know the name, because I don't want to know the name. Something cardio-inversus. And then dextrocardia and something-inversus. People are going to think I'm so ignorant not to know this, but I kind of don't want to know. Because I didn't know before that."

After she learned her diagnosis, she immediately reached out to her family members to let them know.

Remembering the final 'Schitt's Creek' reunion before Catherine O'Hara's death

Catherine O'Hara made final public appearance at a party for the Emmys

"I'm one of seven kids," O'Hara said. "My parents were already gone, had left the world by that time. Never heard anything about this with anyone else. We're driving home, and I think, 'I wonder about my other siblings, if they know where *their *hearts are.'"

Coincidentally, she heard from her sister-in-law later that same day that her brother had undergone quadruple bypass surgery, and was going to be okay. But, O'Hara added, his heart was "in the right place" on the left side.

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"So he kind of scooped my story that day," O'Hara quipped. "But thank god he's okay."

She also shared another hilarious story where her husband roasted her after the doctor revealed her diagnosis.

"When the 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,'" O'Hara said with a smile as she playfully rolled her eyes.**

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