Family Tragedy for Lavinia Milosovici

Several Romanian newspapers have reported that Lavinia Milosovici's daughter Denisa passed away on October 12. She was four years old and had been suffering from a serious nervous system disorder ever since being born prematurely on March 20, 2004. At the time of her birth, Denisa was given an Apgar score of 1 out of 10, meaning her chances of a healthy survival were extremely limited. She only weighed 1.1 kilos, about three and a half times less than the average baby. In July 2007 she underwent an expensive and experimental operation in Beijing, which was mostly paid for by Romanian sports and business moghul Ion Tiriac. It now appears that the operation was to no avail. Denisa died at home and could not be resuscitated at the local hospital. She was buried in Timisoara yesterday. Milo's former teammates Simona Amanar (Denisa's godmother), Maria Olaru, Andreea Raducan, and Catalina Ponor attended the funeral, as did her former coaches, Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang. The President of Romania, Traian Basescu, sent flowers.



Octavian Belu was quoted by Mediafax as saying, "When I heard this shocking news, my first response was one of horror. I can only speak words of encouragement to Milo, who has sacrificed everything, including her coaching career, to do what little she could do for this child. Milo has lost a child who struggled with life herself, but for her as a mother it's a terrible blow. There is no greater curse for a parent than to lose a child. We can't do anything but give her all our sympathy and pray that she'll put this moment behind her. Personally, I don't think anything will ever erase this tragedy from Milo's life, but maybe the arrival of another child in the family will atenuate the shock of the loss."



We share Belu's shock at hearing the news. For Milo to have given up so much to look after her daughter only to lose her is, well, horrible. We wish her and her husband Cosmin all the best in getting over this terrible loss.