There was damage to the right side of her brain but, at that stage, we didn't know the extent of it.

It was discovered that she had a floppy larynx. Every time she breathed it was sucking the larynx back into her windpipe, blocking it. The next day she was back in surgery again.

That made things even harder. We knew there was a 25 per cent risk of something going wrong in surgery. At worst, she could die. When she smiled it made us feel even worse, but we knew she had to have the operation to have any real chance of living.

The surgeon was very blunt with us. He said they had to operate or she would die. I hated him at first for saying it but we quickly grew to respect him. He turned out to be an amazing man.

The right to marry whoever one wishes is an elementary human right compared to which "the right to attend an integrated school, the right to sit where one pleases on a bus, the right to go into any hotel or recreation area or place of amusement, regardless of one's skin or color or race" are minor indeed. Even political rights, like the right to vote, and nearly all other rights enumerated in the Constitution, are secondary to the inalienable human rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence; and to this category the

Air passengers have a right to know if operational practices at the FAA and the commercial airlines are making the problem better or worse,