A 25-year-old pregnant woman is in a coma suffering from swine flu.
Fallon Devaney - who has four children of two, three, four and five - is five months pregnant with her fifth child, but medics fear they may have to choose whose life can be saved, mother or unborn baby.
Fallon's mother, Linda Fearney, 46, told reporters of the moment her daughter's consultants told her of the severity of her illness: 'I was taken aside by a doctor and told that either Fallon, the unborn baby, or both of them could die. The baby is taking a lot of her strength. The doctors have said they might need to do something about it to save Fallon. They can induce the baby but it is unlikely to survive. But if Fallon can't fight, then we have a very hard decision to make.'
Fallon was rushed from her home in Kirk Hallam, Derbyshire, to the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham on Tuesday. She had not had her flu jab, something her mother claims should be mandatory for all expectant mums: 'All pregnant women should be given the vaccine. If Fallon had it she would not now be lying in a hospital bed almost dead. She is on a ventilator. The doctors can't tell us how long she could remain in the coma so we just have to take it day by day.
'We're in a living nightmare. People seem to think it's only old people who suffer from swine flu but it's the young as well.'