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| CREDIT: Marianne Purdie/Getty Images A Queensland family who flew to Sydney to treat their seriously ill baby were denied exemption to quarantine in their own home upon return to Queensland, even after Angel Flight offered to drop them off at a closeby airstrip. Jessie Evans and Billy Blacker travelled from Jandowae in Queensland to NSW in August in order for their four-month old son Rocka to be admitted to Sydney's Children's Hospital. Rocka is suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1, and had to undergo gene therapy treatment in Sydney as it's the only place that offers it. They applied for a medical exemption to be able to quarantine at their home in order to minimise the risk of Rocka becoming sick upon return. Queensland Health denied their request. Officials told the family they had to fly to Brisbane where Jessie and Rocka will quarantine in a Brisbane hospital away from Billy. Billy will have to quarantine in a separate hotel alone. Jessie said, "It's been tough travelling away from home. We'd do it again for our child, but yeah, it's definitely been a tough situation and now that we can't go home, it just makes it a little tougher." The family explained the authorities couldn't provide an answer as to why their request was denied. "We're not asking for special treatment. I know there's more than one other family that people know about that have been able to go home and home quarantine," Jessie said. "It's not like we've come down here to go on holidays. We've come down here with a sick little boy we're just trying to do the best for. We just want to keep him as safe as possible when we do take him home." The family confirmed charity Angel Flight, which assists country families in accessing specialist medical treatment offered to fly them home to the nearest airport so they could isolate at home. CEO Marjorie Pagani has said they even wrote a support letter to Queensland Health saying they could assist getting the family home safely. "We've told Queensland Health, the Premier and the Chief Health Officer that we have pilots standing by right now as we speak to move the family from Sydney, from their hospital, straight up to their farming property." "We make a promise that our pilots and passengers won't come into contact with any of the public during the journey, that everyone will be masked, and the plane will be cleaned to sufficient standards both before and after the flights." Although they used their best efforts, Queensland Health said they could only fly the family to Brisbane. They family are unclear why they have to be separated during quarantine and why they now have to expose their immunocompromised baby to potential harm while travelling through the airport and at quarantine facilities. "We're not trying to do anything wrong or ask them to change all the rules and break them all," said Jessie. "We're just asking to keep our sick child safe and all we want to do is do the best by him." "Our offer still stands. We reiterated it just an hour ago with Queensland Government, who say they are still considering their options." Marjorie explained on the 15th of September. "But, we have a pilot and aircraft right now ready to take off as soon as they are released from the Sydney hospital. Queensland Health have now transitioned to helping the family. |
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