Catholic widow gives birth to a “miracle son” nine months after her husband’s death

A young widow raises a “miracle baby” – born nine months after her husband’s bizarre accidental death during their honeymoon in the Caribbean.

Mari Kuhlman, 23, announced the birth of her son, Raphael Patrick Kuhlman, posting pictures of the newborn on Instagram, just nine months after her husband Nate Kuhlman, 23, fell and drowned while waterskiing during their honeymoon in St. Lucia.

“God obviously had a plan bigger than we could have ever imagined,” Kuhlman wrote in an Instagram post in July.

“He has answered our prayers and the prayers of people all over the world, just in a different way than we expected, but still with the GIFT OF LIFE; the miracle that we are so happy to finally share with all of you.”

The Ohio couple had married just three days before the tragic accident and had agreed not to consummate the relationship until after the wedding, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

“Nate, our son is here!” Kuhlman wrote in the July 18 post.

“I know you will pray for him and for us every day, and he will know without a doubt how much his Father loves him!”

Kuhlman learned she was pregnant on Thanksgiving Day – just weeks after her husband’s death on October 31, 2023.

“It has to be a miracle,” she told her in-laws, according to the Times.

“For that to happen, God himself would have to throw out an egg.”

The couple met in October 2021 as students at Franciscan University in Steubenville and prayed every night.

They finally got engaged more than a year later and married on October 28, 2023 – a date specifically chosen to prevent Kuhlman from becoming pregnant on her wedding night, the Times reported.

The newlyweds spent the first night in their apartment and drove to Miami the next evening. They arrived in the Caribbean the next morning to begin their honeymoon, but then fate struck.

The couple began their honeymoon at the beach, where Nate went water skiing while Kuhlman watched from the beach. Minutes later, Kuhlman witnessed her husband being resuscitated on a boat racing back to shore.

Attempts were made to resuscitate the young husband, but doctors told his new wife he would not make it, the Times reported.

Kuhlman first announced her pregnancy on social media in January on her late husband's birthday.