Kiwi unable to see dying dad until it was too late

Lee-Ann Ottenhof made a desperate dash across the Tasman to say goodbye to her dying father, finally getting Government permission to see him when it was too late.

Now she wants a policy change that would allow every person entering the country to pay a gravely ill relative a short visit to say goodbye.

When the Perth-based Kiwi applied for an exemption from managed isolation, she was asked by the Ministry of Health to provide more medical information.

However, the Waitemata¯ DHB would not provide supporting information because her father was due to be discharged in the coming days and they felt the case was unlikely to meet MoH criteria.

At 76, Wayne Hart had still been sharp. He regularly talked to his daughter and they often exchanged laughs.

But in mid-April, it was discovered that Hart had a lung tumour. When his back became too painful to do anything other than lie down he was admitted to hospital.

It was then confirmed he had stage four lung cancer.

The family doctor confirmed he was “gravely ill”, which satisfied the Australian Border Force to allow Ottenhof to urgently fly to Auckland.

But after arriving at Auckland Airport with her partner on May 4, she was confined to the nearby Novotel hotel unable to see her dad, who was often too exhausted to speak on the phone.

When Hart’s condition rapidly deteriorated, it sparked a frantic effort for Ottenhof to gain an urgent exemption.

Shortly after his death, his daughter was granted visiting rights.

“In the end, an email came from Wellington to say that I was granted one hour,” Ottenhof said.

Waitemata¯ DHB deputy CEO Dr Andrew Brant said when Hart began to deteriorate staff quickly contacted Hart’s partner and arranged for her to visit under the compassionate visiting policy during alert level 3.

Staff also rapidly contacted Ottenhof and advised her of the situation so she could approach the Ministry of Health team at the hotel about an urgent exemption, he said.

Ottenhof said she knew there was “never going to be a happy ending” but if she had been allowed the brief visit to say goodbye it would have helped her to make peace.