Mosque Widow Mourns - My Husband Never Held Our Baby

As their newborn lay in hospital, Khusbu lost her soulmate

- Lynley Ward

Baby Maysha gives a big stretch from the tips of her delicate fingers to her tiny toes as she lies contentedly on a bed next to her mother. She is every part a miracle baby, surviving a traumatic delivery after she stopped breathing as she entered the world.

She is also the precious daughter that doting dad and mosque shooting victim Ramiz Vora never got to hold.

On a chilly winter’s morning, new mum Khusbu Vora welcomes us into her Christchurch home, where family from around the globe have gathered to support her during the most difficult time of her life.

The 30-year-old widow is gradually coming to terms with a life without the father of her adorable baby girl, born just five days before Ramiz died during prayers at the Al Noor Mosque on March 15.

“She is my gift from Allah,” Khusbu tells Woman’s Day, the cute bub thriving despite a rocky entry into the world and losing both her father and grandfather in a single horrific afternoon.

In an exclusive interview, new mum Khusbu says her shattered family is growing stronger by the day as she bravely finds the confidence to take charge in a situation she never dreamed she’d face.

As delicious aromas from the kitchen fill her home, Khusbu tells us this year was meant to be the start of an exciting chapter in the married couple’s lives, finally having the family they had long dreamed about.

They hoped that after two earlier miscarriages their prayers would be answered in the beautiful southern Garden City they called home.

But after the best part of a 13-hour labour on Sunday, March 10, with Ramiz, 29, at her side, it seemed happiness would elude them once more.