He also challenged those who have callously spoken out against Jason’s decision to keep his wife alive, to come to see the newborn baby. On the radio the day before, Sonny said, he’d heard someone saying that Catholics need to get it into their heads that life doesn’t begin until birth. “Susan was three months early,” he said, “and there’s a lot of abortions that are done on kids her size. All you have to do is stand and look at that incubator…life starts a lot earlier than birth. I just invite them…I’ll show them myself.”
Even given the strong faith of the family, however, both Karen and Sonny admitted that at no point was it easy. In early July, it is a little reported fact that Karen’s mother passed away after a long battle with cancer. “There were some days,” said Karen, “when it was difficult to put one foot in front of the other, especially with the death of my mother.”
“Our faith and the kindness of other people praying for us was the only thing that got us through.” She said that through it all she was reminded of a famous quote by president Lincoln given during the Civil War. “I’m driven to my knees by the conviction that I have nowhere else to go.”
She continued, “I tell my children, now do you understand why you must go to Church on Sunday’s and keep your spiritual life in order? You can’t get it in good order in the middle of something like this. Faith is the only thing that gets you through.”
Both Sonny and Karen, when asked if there was anything in particular that they would like printed, said that they would like to thank the millions who have stood so firmly behind their family and supported them. “Thanks to all the millions of people that have been sending even just little letters from across the world. That has kept the family and Jason going,” said Sonny. And Karen thanked the many who have donated to the Susan Torres Fund, saying “At least now [Jason] doesn’t have to file for bankruptcy while he’s burying his wife.”
They also asked for further prayers as they wait for detailed tests from the pathologist that will say for sure whether or not Susan’s melanoma passed through the placenta to her new born daughter.
To help alleviate the estimated $1 million in medical costs visit the Susan Torres Fund at [
http://www.susantorresfund.org](http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/aug/<a%20href=
http://www.susantorresfund.org/>
http://www.susantorresfund.org/)