Please FreepMail me if you want on or off my Pro-Life Ping List.
Posted on 08/03/2005 1:08:28 PM PDT by Pyro7480
Brain-Dead Woman Dies After Giving Birth
By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer
ARLINGTON, Va. - A brain dead woman who was kept alive for three months so she could deliver the child she was carrying was removed from life support Wednesday and died, her family said.
Susan Torres' plight attracted worldwide sympathy after she suffered a stroke in May as she battled cancer. She gave birth to a daughter, Susan Anne Catherine Torres, on Tuesday by Caesarean section.
"This is obviously a bittersweet time for our family," Justin Torres, her brother-in-law, said in a statement.
With the consent of her husband, Jason Torres, doctors at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington turned off Torres' life support early Wednesday after she received the final sacrament of the Roman Catholic Church.
"We thank all of those who prayed and provided support for Susan, the baby and our family," Jason Torres said in a statement released by the hospital.
"We especially thank God for giving us little Susan. My wife's courage will never be forgotten," he said.
The delivery went smoothly and the baby "is doing well," Justin Torres had said earlier in an e-mail to The Associated Press. The baby weighed 1 pound, 13 ounces, he said.
Torres, a 26-year-old researcher at the National Institutes of Health, lost consciousness from a stroke May 7 after aggressive melanoma spread to her brain. Her husband, Jason Torres, said doctors told him his wife's brain functions had stopped.
The infant is being monitored in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington.
Jason Torres quit his job to be by his wife's side, spending each night sleeping in a reclining chair next to her bed. Last month, the fetus passed the 24th week of development — the earliest point at which doctors felt the baby would have a reasonable chance to survive, the brother-in-law said.
Torres was about seven months pregnant when the child was delivered. Doctors had hoped to hold off on delivering the child until 32 weeks' gestation. A full-term pregnancy is about 40 weeks.
A Web site was set up to help raise money for the family's mounting medical bills, and as of two weeks ago, people from around the world had donated around $400,000. The family said it must pay tens of thousands of dollars each week that insurance does not cover.
The couple have one other child — 2-year-old Peter, who has been staying with his grandparents.
"The entire staff and administration of Virginia Hospital Center, especially the physicians and nurses caring for Susan Torres and Baby Girl Torres, are delighted with the successful delivery," the hospital said in a statement. A spokeswoman declined to release additional details.
Since 1979, there have been at least a dozen similar cases published in English medical literature, said Dr. Winston Campbell, director of maternal-fetal medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Center, which conducted research on the topic.
Thank you for the ping...I didn't know Mom had passed on.
MANY prayers for Dad and the baby. MANY!
Well I'm sure you can see her daughter now. Angels from above.
Please FreepMail me if you want on or off my Pro-Life Ping List.
13
Heavenly Father, lover of all,
we praise you for giving us Jesus as our Saviour:
He blessed the children who came to Him,
and welcomes those who come to Him now.
Look with love upon Little Susan.
and protect her with Your love.
May she grow in wisdom, age and strength
in Your presence and in the sight of all.
We> ask this blessing, Father,
through Your beloved Son, Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Amen. God bless this family and comfort them in their sorrow as they rejoice in the birth of a sweet child.
Here's a story of another little baby born at about the same weight as this one. The Texas Termite is now 2 years old, and his thread is over 11,300 posts long. :) The Texas Termite even posts to his thread (and that of his Uncle TC), with a little help from his Nana. I see she has posted "down thread" on this thread.
Here he was right after he was born
Here he is on his second birthday
Yes, there is a difference. Mrs. Torres was on true life support and was dying. Teri Schiavo was on a feeding tube and was not dying. The cases are not equivalent. The Catholic Church (of which both Mrs. Torres and Mrs. Schiavo were members) does not consider feeding tubes to be extraordinary means of life support.
Ooops, she actually posted on another thread on the same subject at post #87.
They're bittersweet
Both death and life
Though heaven beckons
We still fight
Because God gave
Us the right
So we go on
Through tears and strife
Until that day
We see His Light
EV
Not a chance that MS would have stayed by Terri's side. Jason loved Susan. Terri was hated by Michael......
God Bless your memory Susan. You will live on in your precious daughter.
Yes, but Terri wasn't on life support. She just needed fed. BIG DIFFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!She could breathe, laugh, move, wake , sleep........
OHhhhhhhhhhh thanks for the sweet photos!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the ping.
God rest Susan's dear soul.
Her daughter will never forget what a wonderful mother and father she has.
Is that what prompted the doctors to do the C-section now instead of waiting any longer?
The father and, I am sure on some level, the mother fully understood what their marriage vows meant and what it means to be a parent. Good luck to this man who has already been through so much. I hope he names the baby after his wife so her name will be said every day.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.