A woman who urgently applied to see her dying father was ignored by Queensland authorities. Today she finally got some good news.
On August 18, almost two weeks before her father Keith passed away in a Queensland hospital, Sydney woman Amanda Sly received a letter from his GP.
Keith, 82, had weeks earlier taken a hard fall onto concrete that left him with bleeding on the brain.
“He is in dire need of assistance from his family interstate,” the letter read.
Amanda sent the letter to authorities in Queensland as part of an exemption request, which is required under the state’s strict border rules.
Her hope was that it would be urgently reviewed, given the doctor’s horror prognosis. She did not hear back.
On August 30 she received a second letter from the doctor that she hoped would help her cause.
It was even more to the point, noting: “(Keith) is dying from complications relating to falls and anti-coagulation.”
She learned the heartbreaking news that her father had died just hours later and never sent the letter. When she called a hotline set up to handle exemption requests, to ask to enter the state for the funeral, she was told to start her application all over again because the situation had changed.
The ordeal left her struggling and certain she would miss her father’s funeral. But on Saturday, she finally got some good news.
Hours after news.com.au published a story on her plight, a Queensland Health official called to approve her exemption.
RELATED: Lockdown being considered in Queensland
She says she will fly to Queensland on Sunday, quarantine at a cost of roughly $ 3000 for a fortnight, and attend her father’s funeral in person on September 20.
The exemption came just in time.
Amanda says the department did not handle her situation well but she is pleased the matter is sorted.
“I had to tell one of the guys on the hotline to get some empathy because he was just so callous,” Amanda says.
She told news.com.au that she sent an email to the Health Minister Yvette D’Ath on Thursday but as of Saturday had not heard back.
Amanda says her mother is finding things particularly hard after losing her husband of 57 years.
“I want to be there for my mum. I’m sitting in a unit on my own. It is heartbreaking.
“The heartlessness of the exemption process in such a cruel time is hard enough, but to not have anyone listen is heartbreaking.
“The distress that this puts on people who want to travel over the border genuine reasons — there’s a death certificate for God’s sake. How can this happen?”
Keith, who was born in 1939 and settled on the Gold Coast with his wife, had three children.
He travelled the world and inspired his family to do the same thing.
Now his daughter can travel to say goodbye to him.
Her story is sadly not unique. Hundreds of Australians are desperate to cross into Queensland but Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has been firm on the border restrictions.
Letters to the Premier, published by the Courier Mail, tell of peoples’ desperation.
A Facebook page has even been set up titled “Homeless outside QLD due to border restrictions”. It has 1300 members, each one a family in the same situation.
Health and Fitness | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site