Poor kid and mum
https://amp.kidspot.com.au/news/i-l...n/news-story/ca55c6a5a481e9bc4bdb231cf372dcdb
'I literally don’t know when I am going to see my 3yo son again'
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'Outrageous’ NRL families can enter Queensland but three-year-old deni...
Separated by harsh border closures, a Queensland mum has no idea when she can see her three-year-old son again.
Back in July, Dominique and Mick sent their three-year-old son Memphis to visit his grandparents on their farm south of
Griffith, in NSW.
At the time, the
Queensland parents had no idea that this would be the last time they would see their son for nearly two months.
The family have been divided after the
Queensland-NSW border slammed shut on July 23 – leaving Memphis unable to return home to his parents.
“It’s pretty tough when you’ve got your son on the phone crying, just wanting to come home,” Dominique told
The Courier Mail.
Memphis hasn't been able to see his mum in months due to border closures. Source: The Courier Mail
"I literally just don’t know when I am going to see my son again”
When the border closed, the family were given just 12 hours to return Memphis home – which was impossible as the 1,500km journey would have taken far longer.
Dominique offered to drive to the border to pick up her son and take him straight to their isolated property, about 40km west of Hervey Bay – but this plan was swiftly rejected.
Instead, the family were told that their only option was to take Memphis to Sydney and have him flown home, where he would need to complete two weeks hotel quarantine.
“He is immune-compromised… and they wanted me to put my son and parents in a COVID hotspot just to come home… I wasn’t going to compromise their health and safety,” Dominique said.
The family have since tried four times to apply for an exemption on compassionate grounds but they have so far been rejected - despite the fact that NRL families have been allowed to cross the border into Queensland, which Dominque describes as a “kick in the guts”.
She said that she is rapidly running out of hope and is now “in a situation where I literally just don’t know when I am going to see my son again”.
“It has an effect on not only him but on me. Does he think that I don’t want him, does he think he has done something wrong?” she added.
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"All she keeps asking is when she can go and see her mum and dad"
Unfortunately, Dominique’s family aren’t the only ones separated by the harsh border closure – with
Kidspotyesterday reporting on an eight-year-old girl who has been forced to hug her parents over the border barricades.
Little Bonnie’s grandmother Jayne explained that the little girl currently lives with her in Tweed Heads, just inside NSW, due to school commitments.
In normal times, Boyd and Kathy are easily able to travel down from Brisbane to see their daughter – but COVID has changed that.
The harsh border closure has divided the family, with the heartbroken parents unsure when they will be able to properly see Bonnie again.
“It’s heartbreaking, I’ve had to get her sorted with homeschooling, but she can’t even concentrate on that. All she keeps asking is when she can go and see her mum and dad,” Jayne sadly told
The Gold Coast Bulletin .
To make matters worse, Bonnie recently went through a major leg surgery, with Jayne fearing that her progress will be undone as the little girl isn’t allowed into Queensland to attend medical appointments.
“We’ve had appointments cancelled; we’ve had to have phone ones too. Her parents and I have been fighting to have her little legs fixed and now I worry all her progress might come undone,” she
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