- Tracy Fain suffered a brain aneurysm and stroke last week. Sadly, she's now been declared brain dead. Her son, Ethan, was brutally attacked by two dogs on Christmas Eve. He was at the doctor getting his stitches out after a recent reconstructive surgery when his mother collapsed. 
 
 "I said ‘Here I am. I'm old, lived my life. Why couldn't I have went instead of her?’" Fain's mother Sandra Moore said. 
 
 Moore is heartbroken. Her world shattered into a million pieces the day she lost her daughter. 
 
 "I've just been so upset over it. I'm just about to give up myself," said Moore. 
 
 Just eight months ago, Fain's 7-year-old son was severely injured when he was mauled by a neighbor's dogs. He lost an ear in the attack. 
 
 Then, on August 7, Fain was at a post-op appointment with Ethan at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's Egleston campus when she collapsed, suffering a brain aneurysm and massive stroke. 
 
 Family members clung to hope that Fain would make a full recovery, but she took a turn for the worse over the weekend. Moore was called to the hospital. She pleaded with her child to keep fighting. 
 
 "I just told her that she had to fight harder. That that baby needed her, how much I loved her, and how much we all needed her," said Moore. 
 
 Moore prayed for a miracle. 
 
 "I prayed all day going to the hospital, the day they said her brain started swelling again. I prayed all day, but it didn't work. It's in God's hands," said Moore. "I just wonder why? Just like my grandson, I wonder why never have the answers." 
 
 On Tuesday, doctors declared the wife and mother of two brain dead, a devastating blow for the family, coming just months after Ethan's incident and the sudden death of Fain's nephew in July. 
 
 "It's just unreal," said Moore. "I know I just don't know how much more we can take." 
 
 Anyone who wants to donate to the family's online account at https://www.gofundme.com/496vn2w. ||||| While taking her son Ethan to Egelston hospital on Monday, August 7th in order to have stitches removed resulting from a vicious dog attack on Christmas eve, Tracy suffered a stroke brought on by a large brain aneurysm. She lost consciousness in the lobby of Egelston and was rushed over to Emory for an emergency surgery to relieve pressure on the brain and stop the bleeding from the aneurysm. She is now stable and currently in a deep medically inducted coma but still shows signs of brain activity. The road too recovery is going to be very long. Prayers for Tracy and her family are greatly needed and appreciated during this difficult time. It was a miracle that she was already in the hospital when it occurred. The doctors believe that saved her life. We are praying for another miracle to happen and lead to a full recovery ||||| In this Jan. 27, 2017 photo, Senate Republican floor leader Joe Fain, R-Auburn, sits at his desk on the Senate floor in Olympia, Wash. A woman has accused Fain of raping her 11 years ago, saying she was... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this Jan. 27, 2017 photo, Senate Republican floor leader Joe Fain, R-Auburn, sits at his desk on the Senate floor in Olympia, Wash. A woman has accused Fain of raping her 11 years ago, saying she was inspired to speak out following the televised allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this Jan. 27, 2017 photo, Senate Republican floor leader Joe Fain, R-Auburn, sits at his desk on the Senate floor in Olympia, Wash. A woman has accused Fain of raping her 11 years ago, saying she was inspired to speak out following the televised allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.... (Associated Press) In this Jan. 27, 2017 photo, Senate Republican floor leader Joe Fain, R-Auburn, sits at his desk on the Senate floor in Olympia, Wash. A woman has accused Fain of raping her 11 years ago, saying she was... (Associated Press) 
 
 SEATTLE (AP) — A woman has accused a Washington state lawmaker of raping her 11 years ago, saying she was inspired to speak out as she watched the televised allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The lawmaker denied the claim. 
 
 In a tweet Thursday afternoon, Candace Faber said Republican state Sen. Joe Fain sexually assaulted her in 2007 the night she graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He was not in office at the time at the time of the alleged assault. 
 
 "I'm done being silent," she wrote. 
 
 Fain said he "absolutely" denies the allegation and called for an investigation. 
 
 In a text message to The Associated Press, he said: "Any allegation of this serious nature deserves to be heard and investigated for all parties involved. I invite and will cooperate with any inquiry." 
 
 Fain, 37, was first elected to the Washington state Senate in 2010, three years after the alleged incident. He is a moderate Republican from the Seattle suburb of Auburn and currently the state Senate minority floor leader. 
 
 Faber explained later in a statement that she was inspired by Christine Blasey Ford, a California psychology professor who told the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when the two were teenagers. Kavanaugh fiercely denied Ford's claims. 
 
 "Like Dr. Ford, I can no longer remain silent knowing that the man who raped me is in a position to influence the laws that govern my state and impact every woman who lives here," Faber wrote. 
 
 A spokeswoman for Gov. Jay Inslee said he "believes this is a very serious allegation that unquestionably deserves a full investigation by law enforcement officials." 
 
 State Sen. Ann Rivers, a Republican, also supported an investigation, saying how it proceeds will be up to authorities. 
 
 "But my fellow Republican senators and I agree that any allegation of this nature must be looked into as thoroughly as possible, no matter who is involved and no matter how many years have passed," Rivers said in a statement. 
 
 Faber, 35, in June published an online essay accusing an unnamed Washington state lawmaker of assaulting her in 2007. She wrote how they met "at the Capitol" after she graduated from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., spent the night dancing and kissing, and that both "drank too much." 
 
 She wrote in the essay she walked the man back to his hotel, went to his room and that he pinned her to a bed and pulled down her dress. She wrote that she told him to stop and put her foot on his head to push him away. After the man raped her, she wrote, she asked him for a kiss goodbye before leaving the room. 
 
 In her essay, she rejected that the kiss request was "not how girls act when they've been raped." She wrote that she later called a friend, wondering if she should go to a hospital. 
 
 Faber said in her statement Thursday said she did not make the man's name public earlier because she thought she "could change the culture of sexual assault without needing to say his name" but no longer believes that to be the case. 
 
 The AP does not typically name alleged victims of sexual assault, but Faber chose to identify herself. She declined a request to be interviewed and did not respond when asked by email whether she had filed a police report. 
 
 The statute of limitations for most serious sex crimes in Washington, D.C., is 15 years. 
 
 In interviews with KUOW-AM in Seattle, Faber's mother and a former colleague at the University of Washington said Faber previously told them that Fain raped her. The co-worker, Frank Martinez, told the public radio station that he knew Faber was struggling with her mental health at the time but he believed her allegation to be credible. 
 
 In his text message, Fain asked people to "show respect to Ms. Faber and to the process." He did not respond to a message Friday seeking additional comment. 
 
 The lawmaker served as majority floor leader 2013 through 2017 when the Republicans controlled the chamber. He is up for re-election next month. 
 
 Faber's website says she worked from 2015 to 2017 with the city of Seattle's information technology department. 
 
 ____ 
 
 Associated Press Writer Rachel La Corte in Baltimore, Maryland, contributed to this report. ||||| Study finds men are weaker than they were 30 years ago 
 
 Men are getting weaker and scientists can prove it: The Journal of Hand Therapy (which exists) has found that males are definitely weaker then they were 30 years ago. 
 
 In a series of studies testing grip and pinch strength, men aged 20-34 showed significantly decreased power than men of comparable ages did three decades ago. 
 
 The study, done by Elizabeth Fain and Cara Weatherford of Winston-Salem State University, tested 237 health millennials. Women tested lower in strength as well, but not nearly to the extent of today's men. Men, it turned out, have really dropped the ball when it comes to hand strength — literally. 
 
 Fain explained that today's males are weaker because today, fewer of them work in manual labor jobs — jobs which have historically and statistically been held by men. As a result, their strength has diminished over time while women's tests don't show as substantial a decline. Reduced hand strength not only indicates a weak overall body, but can be linked to arthritis, heart disease, and strokes. 
 
 Grip and pinch strength are apparently good indicators of overall strength, so by testing the wimpy grip of today's men, scientists can say with amusing confidence that present day fellas would totally lose in a fight to their contemporaries of the 1980s. 
 
 h/t: Australian Men's Health
– "It's just unreal," Sandra Moore tells Fox 5. "I just don't know how much more we can take." Moore's grandson, 7-year-old Ethan Fain, was mauled by two dogs who pulled him out of a tree and attacked him last Christmas Eve in Georgia. Ethan lost his right ear and suffered serious damage to his left ear; his injuries required 300 stitches, the New York Daily News reports. Now another tragedy has befallen the family. On Aug. 7, Ethan was with his mom, Tracy Dowdy Fain, at the hospital getting stitches from a reconstructive surgery removed, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Suddenly, Fain, who had complained of a headache, collapsed. Doctors found Fain suffered a brain aneurysm and stroke. Her daughter, Jessica Dowdy, says she wouldn't have survived if she wasn't already in a hospital when it happened. In the coming days, the swelling in Fain's brain got worse, and she was declared brain dead Tuesday. “Her body is still here, but her soul is gone,” Dowdy says. The family still hasn't told Ethan. “All he knows is mommy is sick and the doctors are trying to make her better like they made him better,” Dowdy says. A GoFundMe account has been set up for Fain, who also lost a nephew last month.