Kiss kept family's hope alive

Andrew and Emma Ray, with Ella, four, and Alexander, two

Two years ago Shropshire man Andrew Ray feared he would never hear his wife's voice again – but a single kiss changed that forever.

Now Mr Ray, from Wrockwardine Wood, Telford, is dedicated to his wife, Emma, and her rehabilitation which they hope will bring her the best quality of life. Mrs Ray gave birth to their son, Alexander, by Caesarean section, but she went into cardiac arrest 10 days after the birth.

She fell into a coma and doctors warned her husband and their families that she could wake up at any moment or stay in a coma forever.

Despite tapes being played of their new baby's crying, their daughter Ella shouting "wake up mummy" and a bedside vigil from Mr Ray, the 34-year-old remain-ed motionless and silent.

But two weeks after falling into the coma, the couple say a miracle happened.

Mr Ray, an IT consultant at Capgemini, bent over his wife and made an emotional plea: "Emma, if you can hear me, please just give me a kiss."

And this wife turned her head and gave her husband a kiss. Mr Ray today said it felt as if his heart was "going to leap from my chest".

It was a very different moment to when Mr Ray had to give his wife mouth-to-mouth resuscitation when she collapsed while they were out shopping.

Just minutes after leaving Sainsbury's car park in Shrewsbury, she collapsed in the passenger seat. Mr Ray drove back to the car park in the hope of getting help.

He said the efforts of a retired paramedic saved her as they carried out CPR until the ambulance arrived.

Further life-saving action at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital allowed the young mother's heart to be restarted but she remained in a coma and was later transferred to Hayward Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent.

After the single kiss, Mrs Ray continued to drift in and out of consciousness. The family had to face the reality that her brain had been starved of oxygen.

Two years on she has been left with short term memory loss, is unable to walk unaided and needs 24-hour care.

Mr Ray said: "I've had to learn to fall in love with my wife all over again. But it's what any husband or wife would do. She is a mother and a my wife and that's all that matters."

Mrs Ray said: "Andrew helps me to do everything. Without him I don't know how I'd cope."

By Kirsty Smallman