London, January 13: A professional ice skater in England gave birth to a baby girl two days after she collapsed and died from a brain haemorrhage.

Despite declaring Jayne Soliman brain-dead, doctors kept the 41-year-old's heart beating long enough for her daughter Aya Jayne to be delivered by caesarean section.

The 25-week pregnant woman had collapsed in her bedroom at her Bracknell home, Berkshire, after complaining of a headache, and was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

However, she died at 8pm on January 7, just hours after having arrived.

The delivery of her daughter, weighing just 2lb 1oz, took place two days later.

Jayne's husband Mahmoud Soliman was so upset that he did not speak.

However, her friend David Phillips, a 48-year-old fellow skater, paid tribute to her.

"To Jayne, becoming a mother was the best thing in the world that could have happened to her," the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

"She was so happy, she had always wanted to be a mum more than anything else.

"She lived to have a baby girl - that was the one thing she wanted in her life.

"The hospital laid her baby on her shoulder when she was born so she could have a moment with her.

"This would have been the best day of her life," he added.

He revealed that doctors at the hospital had told them that Jayne had suffered from a haemorrhage caused by an aggressive tumour, which had hit a major blood vessel.

"Jayne and I had both been at the ice rink in Bracknell that day and she was absolutely fine - nothing seemed wrong. She was as happy as she could be because she was pregnant - it was her dream," he said.

Baby Aya Jayne has been transferred to the intensive care unit at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, in Reading.

"She's absolutely tiny - her eyes are the size of lemon pips and her hands are about as big as my wedding ring - but she's doing brilliantly," David said.

Speaking about Jayne's husband, David added: "He has had the best and the worst day of his life within such a short space of time. It's just something you can't conceive - turning off your wife's life support machine and then going to see your new born daughter."

Jayne's funeral was attended by over 300 mourners in Reading last week.

She was a former member of the Ice Dance and Figure Skating Club in Southampton, Hants, and had competed in numerous international galas before taking up free skating professionally.

She even spent some time in Dubai where she taught figure skating and met her husband.

Ice-skating coach Anita Curtis, a former member of the Southampton club and a friend of Jayne's added: "She was a very good coach and always very helpful. She loved teaching and loved the kids and being around people. She was lots of fun a full of energy. She was full of life and desperately looking forward to having the baby." (ANI)