My little miracle.. a fighter like mum

Guest Tue 13 Jan - 9:23

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2125011.ece?#EMC-Bltn

By JAMIE PYATT

Published: Today

GRIEVING husband Mahmoud Soliman wept last night as he paid an emotional tribute to his wife — and the miracle baby she gave him as she died.
He told how he experienced the joy of becoming a dad at the same time as he suffered the devastating loss of his wife Jayne.

And he revealed that daughter Aya Jayne — born three months prematurely — had been named after the Arabic word for miracle.

Mahmoud, 29, said: “She is so tiny, but she is a little fighter just like her mother.”

Jayne, 41 — a former ice skating champion — was 25 weeks pregnant when she collapsed into a coma after suffering a brain haemorrhage.

She was airlifted to hospital, but doctors were unable to save her and she was declared brain dead.

Medics kept Jayne alive on life support for a further 48 hours so they could prepare to deliver her baby by caesarean section.

She was given two large doses of steroids to help the baby’s lungs develop and Aya Jayne was born healthy.

A midwife tenderly placed the tiny child on her mother’s shoulder so they could spend a few poignant moments together.

Little Aya, weighing just 2lb 1oz, was then taken to an intensive care unit, while Mahmoud was left to say goodbye to Jayne before the agony of giving doctors permission to switch off her life support.

Mahmoud said: “The doctors said there was nothing they could do for Jayne but they needed her to stay strong for our unborn child.

I was so proud that her heart kept beating and her body never gave up.

“Aya is Arabic for miracle. That is the name Jayne took when she became a Muslim and our daughter is also a miracle so I named her after her mum.

Tearful
“When Aya grows up I will tell her what a lovely, lovely mum she had who would have loved her so much. I will tell her what a gorgeous lady she was. It was Jayne’s one true wish in her life to have a baby and she would have been a great mum.”

Mahmoud was able to cuddle Aya for the first time on Sunday night at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.

He added: “It was very tearful. I was always telling Jayne that if I die you must do this or that. She would always say, ‘Don’t you die and leave me’. But she is the one who left me. Now she is an angel in paradise.”

Jayne competed in numerous international competitions under her maiden name of Campbell before becoming a professional free skater. In 1989 she was British champion and ranked seventh in the world.

She later spent time coaching figure skaters in Dubai, where she met IT worker Mahmoud.

She returned to England two years ago, when the newlyweds set up home in Bracknell, Berks, and Jayne began working for Bracknell Ice Skating Club.

Mahmoud, now studying for a business degree, added: “For me it was love at first sight. Jayne converted and became a Muslim — that was her decision — and we decided to try for a family right away.”

Close pal David Phillips, 48, said: “To Jayne, becoming a mother was the best thing in the world that could have happened.”

David’s wife Lucine, 38, who was at the birth, said: “It was a mixture of tragedy, elation and relief. It was so sad to think Jayne was never going to see her beautiful baby.

"A midwife picked Aya up and put her little face up to Jayne’s. Mahmoud was overjoyed. When he was finally allowed to hold her his face was just full of emotion. He knows he has to go on for Aya.”