"The feeling of exhaustion after a race must be like having just run a marathon. Running costs for it are pounds 10,000 per meeting and pounds 500,000 for a whole season. A second-hand car similar to the one driven by Avestedt would cost around pounds 250,000."The G-force when I start feels that I've run into a brick wall," Avestedt said. The Swedish driver, a three-time former Swedish body-building champion, has dominated European drag racing this year. She is now about to launch an attempt to break the 300mph barrier and the European speed record. Her car for the quarter-mile attempt is the length of a double-decker bus with go-kart style front wheels the diameter of those on a normal Ford Fiesta. Its back wheels are lorry-like but have no tread and the spoiler at the back of the car stands higher than 6ft,The vehicle comes complete with the ear-splitting wail generated by 5,000bhp and a huge appetite for fuel - it guzzles two litres every second.

Viveca Avestedt must be about the only "Drag Queen" aiming to cover a quarter of a mile in less than five seconds. The amount of light reflected indicates the amount of oxygen in the blood supply to the brain. If there is not enough, doctors can simply give more to the mother.Dr John Wyatt, who is leading the University College research team, said: "Many hundreds of babies each year suffer permanent brain damage because of a shortage of oxygen and a poor blood supply to the brain during delivery."This new scanner, which uses infra-red light, has the potential to prevent many of these cases from occurring each year, although further trials will be necessary."Dr Wyatt and his team have predicted that, if the device is used widely, the number of Caesarean operations would fall by almost half, because doctors would be able to act on accurate information rather than a hunch.The machine was developed with a pounds 98,500 grant from the charity Action Research.Although the cost of the device appears prohibitive at pounds 30,000 commercial backing would make it significantly cheaper.. Infra-red technology developed for guided missiles is to be used to save babies' lives. He can move his head a little, can see bright lights and laugh and cry, but cannot communicate in any other way.The judge is being asked to decide only the question of liability Any damages found due will be assessed at a later date The hearing continues today..

She alleged he said: "If you continue saying that, we will have to consider whether or not to get a court order."The judge had been told earlier by Mr Maskrey that the health authority was not intending to argue that a court order sanctioning the transplant could have or should have been sought.Matthew is incapable of doing anything for himself and will need lifelong nursing care. extra time that wasn't quality time."Mrs Poynter, who is expecting her fourth child, told the court of the reaction of one of the medical team, Richard Kirk, when she told him she did not want Matthew to have a transplant. Just to reduce it to something mechanical is missing the whole point about life."The doctors expected them to agree to the transplant because "somehow we were failing as parents if we didn't. We were told Matthew had an excellent chance of pulling through and he would have two or three extra years. But for us they had to be quality years, otherwise it would not be worth it We were after quality of life for Matthew We didn't want ... It was a purely mechanical job, taking one heart out and putting another one in, disregarding anything human about it The heart is not just a pump It is part of the person, part of the mind, body and soul.

They alleged they were put under a "significant degree of pressure" by the hospital.A donor heart arrived on 19 December 1987 and Matthew was taken to the operating theatre. His heart was kept going with massage for 30 minutes before he was attached to a by-pass pump. It was believed the brain damage occurred during this period. It was "perhaps ironic" that, from the cardiac point of view, the implant was successful.Mr Poynter told the judge: "We lost the happy child we had before the operation, which turned him into a little boy who is very distressed and crying most of the time." He said he and his wife did not get any support from the hospital, before or after the operation, for their views or the way they felt "Matthew was treated just as a person ready for transplant. Mr Poynter "regarded the heart as more than a simple pump" and in 1987 transplant surgery for infants was in its early days.Although they knew Matthew's life expectancy without the operation would be weeks or even days, Mr and Mrs Poynter went through agonies of indecision before giving consent.