Mother sacrifices her life for her son

London, England, Jan 29, 2008 / 05:11 am MT (CNA).-

Lorraine Allard was four months pregnant when doctors discovered she had cancerous tumors in her liver. Her physicians recommended that she abort her child to save herself, but she valued her baby’s life more than her own.

According to the Daily Mail, the wife and mother of three was advised by doctors to abort the child so that she could immediately begin chemotherapy treatment. Instead, she courageously insisted on waiting long enough to give life to her unborn son.  She told her husband Martyn, “If I am going to die, my baby is going to live.”

Martyn told the Daily Mail that it is believed the disease spread from bowel cancer that had been growing unnoticed for years.  Because she was pregnant, the doctors said they were unable to do anything. 

"She told them straight away they were not going to get rid of the baby. She'd have lost the will to fight.”

On November 18, she gave birth to 1 lb 11 oz baby Liam.  Though premature, Liam responded well to his care.  However, his mother’s health began to deteriorate just before Christmas and a scan on January 17 revealed the tumors were still growing.

The next day, Lorraine died peacefully.  Her husband described her last moments as he sat next to her holding her hand. 

"We were like that for about half an hour. I could feel against my chest that her heart was slowing down. She just slipped away after that. It was very peaceful.”

"Lorraine was positive all the way through - she had strength for both of us," he said.

"Towards the end we knew things weren't going well, but she was overjoyed that she had given life to Liam."