A champion ice-skater gave birth to a child two days after she collapsed and died from a brain haemorrhage.
Jayne Soliman, 41, who was 25 weeks’ pregnant, was declared brain dead by doctors, but her body was kept alive by a life support machine so that the girl, her first child, could be born safely.
Medical staff laid tiny Aya Jayne on her mother’s shoulder “so she could have a moment with her”, before she was transferred to an intensive care unit because of her small size. Her death was completely unexpected as she appeared to be in good health, but afterwards it emerged that she had an aggressive brain tumour which had struck a major blood vessel.
Mrs Soliman, from Bracknell, Berkshire, who was a British champion and rose to No 7 in the world in 1989, had been ice-skating on the day she died, 7 January. Returning home, she complained of a headache and collapsed in her bedroom. She was airlifted to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, but by 8pm she was dead.
In order to save the child’s life, Mrs Soliman was kept alive and given large doses of steroids to help the baby’s lungs develop. Aya Jayne was delivered by Caesarean section at 2.34pm on 9 January, weighing just 2lb 1oz.
Her Egyptian-born husband, Mahmoud Soliman, 29, a business studies student, said: “In the space of 48 hours I have experienced joy at the birth of my child and endured torment over losing my wonderful wife. The two things she always wanted were a loving husband and a child. “I know she fought with all her might to keep our child alive, but it breaks my heart to know that she will never know Aya
Jayne. I can’t believe my little daughter has survived. I look at her and she reminds me so much of her mother.”
A friend, Lucine Phillips, who was there when Aya Jayne was born “kicking and wriggling”, said it was hard to describe the emotions of the moment. “I was elated with the new life that had just come into the world, but in the same instant it was so sad to think that Jayne was never going to see her beautiful baby.” She added that when Mr Soliman “was finally allowed to hold her, his face was full of emotion”.
More than 300 people attended Muslim-convert Mrs Soliman’s funeral at the Jamia Masjid mosque in Reading on Saturday.
Tuesday 13 January 2009
GAY BISHOP INVITED TO PRE-INAUGRATION EVENT IN DC
CONCORD, N.H. – The first openly gay Episcopal bishop will say a prayer at the Lincoln Memorial for one of President-elect Barack Obama's first inauguration events.
New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson will deliver the invocation at an event on Sunday to kick off inauguration festivities. His selection follows weeks of criticism from gay-rights groups over Obama's decision to have the Rev. Rick Warren give the invocation at his Jan. 20 inauguration. Warren had backed a recent ballot measure banning same-sex marriage in his home state of California.
Robinson has said he was stung by Warren's selection, but still believes Obama will be the most supportive president ever for gay-rights causes.
"There's no question in my mind that he is the president who understands our issues and comes out of a background knowing what it's like to be discriminated against because of who you are," Robinson said Monday. "I think for the first time in a very long time we'll have a friend in the White House."
Robinson was an early Obama supporter, offering advice as well as his endorsement before the New Hampshire primary, which Obama lost to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Robinson said he doesn't believe he was asked to participate to calm criticism of Warren. Obama's decision to include clergymen with different views is emblematic of what kind of leader Obama will be, Robinson said.
"What it means for the nation is that Barack Obama is who he told us he was and intends to be, which is a person who unites us," Robinson said. "The fact Rick Warren and I are each giving invocations during inauguration festivities just shows that the new president means to include all Americans."
Presidential Inaugural Committee spokeswoman Linda Douglass said Robinson is one of several religious speakers who reflects Obama's commitment to diversity throughout the inaugural festivities.
"Rev. Robinson was selected on his own merit because he is a man who preaches tolerance and inclusivity, all very important values that he shares with the president-elect," Douglass said.
Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden will attend the inaugural kickoff and Obama is expected to speak. Robinson said his prayer will be addressed not only to Barack Obama, but also to the entire nation.
"Given the difficult circumstances we all face and given the fact we have placed so much hope on and responsibility on Barack, I think it's appropriate to remind the nation he's only a human being and he can't do all this by himself," he said. "In fact, all of us will need to play our own part."
Robinson's 2003 consecration has divided his church in the United States and abroad. Last month, theological conservatives upset by liberal views of U.S. Episcopalians and Canadian Anglicans formed a rival North American province.
Warren has offered the use of his Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., to conservative Southern California parishes that left the national Episcopal Church.
WOMAN SLAPPED WITH FINE FOR CURSING IN ROMANIAN CHURCH
BUCHAREST, Romanian — A woman who upset worshippers by swearing during a church service in Romania has been fined $126, about one-third of the average monthly salary in her country.
Police spokeswoman Bianca Albu said officers were called by priests and a candle seller to the service Monday afternoon at the Ascension Church in the city of Botosani to take action against the unruly worshipper.
Albu said the 50-year-old woman was cursing and insulting worshippers at the Orthodox church in northeastern Romania.The spokeswoman declined to repeat the woman's words, saying only that she was fined by police on the spot for disturbing the public order in a special place by using unholy language.Little more was known about the woman, including her motive.
Police spokeswoman Bianca Albu said officers were called by priests and a candle seller to the service Monday afternoon at the Ascension Church in the city of Botosani to take action against the unruly worshipper.
Albu said the 50-year-old woman was cursing and insulting worshippers at the Orthodox church in northeastern Romania.The spokeswoman declined to repeat the woman's words, saying only that she was fined by police on the spot for disturbing the public order in a special place by using unholy language.Little more was known about the woman, including her motive.
POPE ORDERS BISHOPS TO ROOT OUT FALSE CLAIMS OF VISIONS
The Pope has ordered thorough investigations to be carried out into people who claim they have seen visions of the Virgin Mary.
He is hoping to cut down on an explosion in the number of bogus heavenly apparitions with new guidelines to help his bishops to root out frauds.
Benedict XVI plans to publish criteria to help them to distinguish between true and false claims of visions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, messages, stigmata, weeping and bleeding statues and Eucharistic miracles.
In some cases exorcists will be used to determine if a credible apparition is of divine origin or whether it is demonic.
The guidelines will come in a "vademecum", or handbook, which is in its final stages and will be published soon by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
It sets out step-by-step instructions on how Church authorities should deal with claims of such supernatural phenomena.
The Pope is said to be deeply concerned by the explosion in the number of pseudo-mystics who, claiming a direct line to God, set themselves against the bishops and lure the Catholic faithful out of the Church and into disobedient cults.
When a claim of heavenly apparitions occurs, the local bishop will need to set up a commission of psychiatrists, psychologists, theologians and priests who will investigate the claims systematically.
The first step will be to impose silence on the alleged visionaries and if they refuse to obey then this will be taken as a sign that their claims are false.
The visionaries will next be visited by psychiatrists, either atheists or Catholics, to certify their mental health and to verify whether they are suffering from conditions of a hysterical or hallucinatory character or from delusions of leadership.
The third step will be to investigate the person's level of education and to determine if they have had access to material that could be used to falsely support their claims.
The new document will also instruct the bishops to see if the visionaries and their associates stand to gain financially from making their claims.
The content of any heavenly messages will also be scrutinised to see if it is harmony with the teachings of the Church.
If the visionary is considered credible they will ultimately be questioned by one or more demonologists and exorcists to exclude the possibility that Satan is hiding behind the apparitions in order to deceive the faithful.
The Pope decided to act because instances of private revelations continue to multiply, with new cases reported around the world every year.
Benedict XVI plans to publish criteria to help them to distinguish between true and false claims of visions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, messages, stigmata, weeping and bleeding statues and Eucharistic miracles.
In some cases exorcists will be used to determine if a credible apparition is of divine origin or whether it is demonic.
The guidelines will come in a "vademecum", or handbook, which is in its final stages and will be published soon by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
It sets out step-by-step instructions on how Church authorities should deal with claims of such supernatural phenomena.
The Pope is said to be deeply concerned by the explosion in the number of pseudo-mystics who, claiming a direct line to God, set themselves against the bishops and lure the Catholic faithful out of the Church and into disobedient cults.
When a claim of heavenly apparitions occurs, the local bishop will need to set up a commission of psychiatrists, psychologists, theologians and priests who will investigate the claims systematically.
The first step will be to impose silence on the alleged visionaries and if they refuse to obey then this will be taken as a sign that their claims are false.
The visionaries will next be visited by psychiatrists, either atheists or Catholics, to certify their mental health and to verify whether they are suffering from conditions of a hysterical or hallucinatory character or from delusions of leadership.
The third step will be to investigate the person's level of education and to determine if they have had access to material that could be used to falsely support their claims.
The new document will also instruct the bishops to see if the visionaries and their associates stand to gain financially from making their claims.
The content of any heavenly messages will also be scrutinised to see if it is harmony with the teachings of the Church.
If the visionary is considered credible they will ultimately be questioned by one or more demonologists and exorcists to exclude the possibility that Satan is hiding behind the apparitions in order to deceive the faithful.
The Pope decided to act because instances of private revelations continue to multiply, with new cases reported around the world every year.
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