Petition by Minoth Kanagaratnam, Tristan Ramcharan and Nisha Pargass

 

In the early throes of the pandemic, the UK lost our friend, an extraordinary neonatologist, Dr Vish Rasiah, who succumbed to the Covid virus in April 2020. He caught Covid on duty, and passed away at a prematurely young age, leaving behind his 6 year old daughter, Katelyn and wife Liza, a paediatrician. 

This devastating experience led to Liza’s mother, Zohora moving from Trinidad to help Katelyn and Liza with the bereavement and child care, being told in the Home Office grant letter that she could apply to extend her leave in 2023. 

When she applied however, this leave was denied by the Home Office who told Zohora that she must leave, and that Katelyn should have other carers. 

Liza has been working hard - gradually coming to terms with the sudden loss of Vish - she has gone back to work and has been doing NHS shifts to help clear the backlog of children waiting to be seen. Just this week the Darzi report is being published - showing there are almost 1 million children on NHS waiting lists for treatment. 

We wish to advocate for a change in migration policy to have a child-centred approach to children’s welfare, and also maintain the interests of the public by retaining the work of this dedicated paediatrician, Liza for her Trust and patient community.  

Katelyn should continue to have bonded co-parenting.  

Please sign this petition to urge the Home Secretary to reverse this draconian decision of her department. Let this grandmother stay with, and help to co-parent her still bereft granddaughter, rather than disrupt this family and the needs of the community. Katelyn has been through so much at such a young age and coped admirably - let us not disrupt the progress she has made by separating this family unit. 

The NHS and the West Midlands are still mourning the loss of Vish. He was one of the most remarkable neonatologists we have ever seen. We can’t also now lose the services of Liza - especially at a time when our children’s services are crying out for more help. It is definitely in the public interest to keep this family together.”