This is not my story, it is a story of a young family here in Australia, and to my mind it is a story about the power of a mother's love, a father's devotion and the unshakeable bond between mother and child. When I saw an interview on television with Yoshi De Silva, I could do nothing by cry.
The De Silva family are the most amazing, shining example of love that I can think of. In early March this year Emma and Yoshi De Silva were just an ordinary couple, whose lives had been made perfect by the birth of their daughter Eloise. Emma and Yoshi had been trying for their first child for three years and Emma had suffered three very painful miscarriages, and so it was with joy that they greeted their tiny daughter. Emma, 35, was a teacher, as was Yoshi.
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| Emma De Silva |
On March 14 Emma took Eloise for a walk in her stroller, and in an instant the lives of this courageous family were shattered. As they were walking a car left the highway, hit a sign and then a power pole, mounted the footpath, and hit Emma and then the stroller. An eyewitness said that Emma was thrown into the air and landed on her head. Yoshi said in a TV interview that a mate had called him and told him he needed to get to the hospital as Emma had been hit by a car. He said that Eloise and Emma had been taken to different hospitals, so it was a logistical nightmare going between the two. He thought he would lose both of them, and Eloise had bleeding on the brain and a broken collarbone. Emma was in a coma and was not expected to live.
Yoshi said that just before the accident they had been talking and they agreed that their life was perfect.
Eloise was just 19 days old.
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| Yoshi, Eloise, Emma's father and sister |
Only three months before the accident Emma's mother had died from motor neurone disease.
Yoshi told media that he was a "broken man" going between visits to his tiny daughter and his critically ill wife. After a week in hospital, Yoshi was able to take Eloise home, and he took on all the duties of a single parent. He even joined a mother and baby group, and says it was throughout this time that he understood the depth of the bond between mother and child. He worried that Emma and Eloise would lose that precious bond, and would take Eloise to the hospital each day to see Emma, so she could have some "skin to skin" contact with her mother. Doctors told Yoshi that they wanted to turn off Emma's life support. He asked them what would happen if he did that, and the response was that Emma would probably die. They weren't detecting brain activity and her injuries were catastrophic. Yoshi refused, and refused to give up hope.
For weeks Emma showed no signs of response, until one day, weeks after the accident, her eyelids fluttered. The next response was a small grin. Then she moved her hand. Eloise would lay on Emma's chest and stroke her face and give her baby kisses. Emma seemed to know they were there, and would become restless or move her arms, sometimes she would cry. Eighty four days after Emma's accident she woke up, holding Eloise in her arms.
Yoshi firmly believes that it was Eloise who brought Emma back, that Emma knew Eloise was with her every day for eight weeks, needing her mother back with her. During the television interview the reported posed the question to one of Emma's doctors, who agreed that it was more than likely Eloise who caused Emma to awake from her deathly coma. The doctor described Eloise as a miracle.
Emma's father and sister have been tremendously supportive, and her father kept a daily journal, including photographs, of Emma's slow recovery. It will be a long slow road for Emma, who is having to learn to walk and talk all over again. She retains her cheeky sense of humour, and has shown such courage through her rehabilitation. Almost six months after the devastating accident Emma is still slowly finding her way back. During the interview Emma told Yoshi "I want to make love" which brought a smile to everyone.
I pray that she can fully recover and that their lives can go forward as they were meant to, with such love and hope. I have put some links below for you to read the story, and a link to the video of the tv interview. I do recommend you watch the video.
If you wish to read more you can go to the following links :
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/renewed-plea-for-crash-witnesses-20110406-1d4l8.html
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-nsw/beating-heart-of-love-between-comatose-emma-de-silva-and-her-baby-girl-eloise/story-e6freuzi-1226051413642
and for the interview, the following :
http://au.news.yahoo.com/sunday-night/features/article/-/9988029/a-babys-touch/
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