Baby born to crash victim as she dies

A baby boy has been born to a mother as she lay dying from horrific road crash injuries.

The woman was airlifted to hospital with severe head wounds after losing control of her 350cc motorcycle.

Doctors performed an emergency Caesarean as her life ebbed away. The baby, who weighs only two pounds, was born three months premature but is now said to be stable.

Rachael Roe, 32, was flown to hospital following the accident but she died in the emergency unit shortly afterwards without regaining consciousness.

She had been taken by helicopter to the Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, after suffering terrible injuries near her home town of Belper, Derbyshire.

Her partner, James Gale, who had been riding another motorcycle behind her on Monday afternoon, raised the alarm as she lay unconscious - losing huge amounts of blood. He accompanied her in the air ambulance to hospital, stayed by her side throughout the operation and was with her when she died.

The baby is now being nursed in the Queen's neo-natal unit, where his condition today was described as "stable". Mr Gale said today: "We had chosen to call the baby Alex if it was to be a boy. This is a desperately sad time for us."

Ms Roe's two sons, Christopher, nine, and William, three, are being cared for by their father, John Roe, in Nottingham. Her parents, George and Anne Worthington, sisters Debbie and Victoria and her brother, Daniel, who also live in Nottingham, are said to be devastated.

Police were today investigating the cause of the crash as experts examine the motorcycle for possible faults.