Father barred from seeing four-year-old cancer-stricken daughter
A NSW dad will have to go into two weeks of hotel quarantine to visit his cancer-stricken daughter in Queensland.
Brad Jones, from Goonellabah, in northern New South Wales, told the ABC his four-year-old daughter Charlotte is fighting for her life in Queensland Children's Hospital after being diagnosed with leukaemia.
Charlotte has been in Brisbane with her mum Melissa since January and her dad was visiting her regularly until August 8 when the state closed its borders after a number of coronavirus breakouts in NSW.
Mr Jones was able to visit Charlotte for two hours earlier this week after she suffered a seizure, but had to drive home after to care for his five other children.
He said wasn’t sure his daughter would survive the next two days and claims he has since been told he will need to reapply for an exemption and quarantine for two weeks at his own expense.
“So then hearing that and then having to turn around and come home - I couldn’t even see the road I was crying so hard,” he told 7NEWS.
He told the publication he doesn’t care about the cost of quarantine but he’s concerned about taking time off work - especially since he has five other mouths to feed.
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He has pleaded with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to let him visit his daughter.
On Friday, the premier stood by her border policies.
“It is tough on everyone. And let me make it very clear, I don't make those decisions,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk said the decision lay in the hands of Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young.
“Under the Act, it's her decision. You've got to have someone – you've got to take the clinical advice here,” she said.
She then revealed she had been “hurt deeply” personally amid the pandemic.
“I’m human just like everyone else,” she said.
“These issues hurt me deeply. They hurt me deeply because during this pandemic I have lost loved ones as well. I know exactly what people are going through, OK?” she added as she left the media conference abruptly on the brink of tears.
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