Susan Torres

Susan Michelle Rollin Torres (November 23 1978 – August 3 2005) was an American woman who made headline news all over the world, when she gave birth to a baby girl while brain dead, with Stage IV Malignant Melanoma, and on a life support machine.

Brief biography

Susan Rollin, was born to Sandra, and Paul Rollin, in Wichita, Kansas and raised in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Susan was raised as a Protestant but converted to Catholicism during her college career.

She was an outstanding student in school, and she attended the University of Dallas, a Roman Catholic college, from which she graduated cum laude with a B.S. in Biology/Environmental Science. She met Jason Torres and converted to Roman Catholicism. The couple married and moved to Alexandria, Virginia. She worked as a vaccine researcher at the NIH. In 2003, Jason and Susan Torres had their first child, Peter.

Susan had been diagnosed with melanoma when she was 17 years old, and a senior in High School. The melanoma was removed, and after 8 years she had been declared completely free of the cancer. On May 7 2005, 17 weeks after she had become pregnant for the second time, she suffered a stroke, as a consequence of her cancer, which had returned.

She was rushed to the Virginia Hospital Center, where it was discovered that her cancer had spread to her brain. Her family was told by the doctors there that she had no chance of survival as she had already reached stage four of her cancer, which is often fatal for cancer patients. Despite the medical prognosis, it was decided to keep her alive, to save her baby by premature delivery before the cancer had spread to her uterus. Doctors set their sights on July 11, by which date the baby would likely have a viable chance of survival.

Her ordeal caused financial and psychological distress to both sets of grandparents, and both the Rollins and Torres families set up a fund in order to raise money to pay for her hospital bills and for the baby's care. As July 11 arrived, doctors decided to wait a little longer to deliver the baby so it would have a better chance of surviving after birth. Meanwhile, about $400,000 (USD) coming from different parts of the country and the world was collected through the Susan Torres Fund.

On August 2 2005, baby Susan Ann Catherine Torres was born, through a Caesarean section (aka "C-section"). Baby Susan was taken to an intensive care unit, but hospital staff as well as Susan's brother-in-law, Justin Torres, announced that Susan had had a "successful delivery" and that the baby was "doing well".

On August 3 2005, Susan died after her life support machines were disconnected by Virginia Hospital Center's staff. She was 26 years old. On September 11 2005, baby Susan Ann Catherine Torres died, following surgery for a perforated intestine.

About twelve women worldwide have given birth while on life support machines since 1979, according to Dr. Winston Campbell. Susan was the first to be not only brain dead, but also suffering from advanced malignant melanoma. Either of the conditions would have been a huge problem, but the combination of the two made the odds of a healthy birth highly unlikely. There was no medical precedent from which to draw experience from for such a case. The attending physicians and nurses are still completely amazed that Susan was able hold on to life long enough to deliver her baby in relatively good health.

References

External links

* [http://www.susantorresfund.org] susantorresfund.org