CSB and SJU students featured in People magazine story on premature babies

Two students from the College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, and Saint John’s University, Collegeville, were featured in the May 18 issue of People magazine.

CSB student Katie Kenefick, a sophomore psychology major from Edina, Minn., and SJU student Jonathan Engholm, a first-year economics major from Prior Lake, Minn., were featured in the story, “When Miracle Babies Grow Up!” Kenefick and Engholm were also featured in a St. Cloud Times article on May 16 and Inside Edition on May 15, while Kenefick was featured on KARE-11 TV on May 11.

The story focused on six micro preemie babies treated at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. Dr. Ronald Hoekstra, a neonatologist at Children’s Hospitals, has followed 156 micro preemies since their birth, documenting their progress into young adulthood.

Hoekstra’s unique data looks at how these former micro preemies, born between 1986 and 1990, some as early as 23 weeks gestation, are functioning physically, educationally and socially in the world as adults.

Kenefick was born at 25 weeks and weighed 1 pound, 14 ounces. Engholm was born at 26 weeks and weighed 2 pounds, 2 ounces.