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Critically ill girl born after mother is killed

Michael Durham
Sunday 06 September 1992 23:02 BST
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A GIRL was born yesterday hours after her mother was knocked down and fatally injured in a road accident. Last night the baby and her father were both critically ill in hospital, writes Michael Durham.

Doctors saved the child's life, though Linda Wolage, 28, was said to have died at the scene of the accident at Blackwater, Hampshire. The baby, due in 10 days, was born by caesarian section.

Mrs Wolage was hit by a car that mounted the pavement near her home on Saturday night. Her husband, Andrew, 29, who was walking with her, was critically injured. Witnesses said a Ford Fiesta car came round a corner at high speed and ploughed into the couple, who had just got off a bus.

Doctors at Frimley Park hospital are believed to have kept the mother and child on a life-support machine until the baby could be delivered. Live births in such circumstances are rare, but not unknown. Kypros Nicolaides, Professor of Foetal Medicine at King's College Hospital, London, said: 'In theory, you could keep someone alive indefinitely. The question is how long a baby would remain alive after the mother's death.'

The baby's father suffered several fractures. Last night hospital sources said he was heavily sedated but aware of his wife's death and the baby's birth.

The car driver, named as Jill Gunns, 47, was questioned and later released on police bail pending further inquiries.

Eight-month-old Liam Hamer was last night recovering well from a pioneering operation at St James University Hospital, Leeds, last week when he was given part of an adult liver.

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