Peru woman can enter Scotland for mercy dash to dying husband

A MOTHER desperate to reach Scotland to say goodbye to her dying husband has been granted a visa waiver.

Luchy Lopez- Hammann, 52, from Hamburg, Germany, had been trying to travel to the UK to see her husband Andreas Hammann, who suffered a heart attack on Saturday.

Mr Hammann and son John, 10, were in Scotland to attend the wedding of his nephew Kevin McLaughlin, from Ayr, last week.

However the 59- year- old was taken ill and was rushed to Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride.

While he and his son are German, Mrs Lopez- Hammann holds a Peruvian passport and has faced delays in obtaining a visa to reach the UK before her husband’s life support is turned off.

The family had criticised the situation as “ridiculous”.

Mr McLaughlin, 26, said she had been forced to travel to Berlin for an interview to obtain a visa and pay 500 euro (£ 450).

He later confirmed the request for a visa has been granted and Mrs Lopez- Hammann is on her way to Scotland.

A Home Office spokesman said: “In light of the exceptional compassionate circumstances of this case, we have issued Mrs LopezHammann with a visa waiver to allow her to travel to the UK.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “It is welcome news that the UK Government has now issued a visa waiver for Ms LopezHammann but it is unacceptable that Home Office delays in this case have caused entirely unnecessary additional distress to both her and her family.”