Danielle Krepska moved to Brisbane in 2019 from UK to help care for her newborn nephew, Maximilien, who has a very rare neurodegenerative condition. Due to work restrictions, Danielle was unable to work in Australia so moved to Auckland to teach in a struggling school, the students of which depend on teachers like Danielle. Auckland was the closest Danielle could be to her sister and nephew, in the event that Maximilien’s days be limited.

Sadly, her nephew is now in the last days of life and Danielle’s sister, Amy, who works as an Anaesthetic and ICU doctor in Brisbane needs the help of her sister to provide care and support to Maximilien, as well as for herself and for the opportunity for the family to be together at this time.

Due to COVID travel restrictions and quarantine rules, should Danielle return to Brisbane she will be forced into 14 days hotel quarantine and likely miss seeing her nephew again. Also, she will not be allowed to travel back to NZ and will ultimately lose her job as a teacher, to the detriment of the pupils at her school.

These two women, who provide essential services in both Australia and NZ, and who are both heroes in my eyes, deserve special recognition for the contributions they make to others. Now is the time to honour them in their time of need.

Amy has worked in Brisbane hospitals for many years and now is enduring what any parent can only imagine as a living hell. She would always put the safety of her patients above all else and is stringent in her practices to protect them against any possible COVID risk. She has adapted her home to ensure she does not risk passing any infections to her already vulnerable son.

All we ask is that Danielle is allowed to self-quarantine within Amy’s house in Brisbane, where she can care for her nephew and alleviate this extra burden on her sister. And after saying goodbye to her beloved nephew be allowed to travel back to NZ (where she is willing to self quarantine for 14 days) & return to a job where she is making a difference to under privileged children.

Being that NZ and Qld are low risk for COVID at present, this is surely not an unreasonable request and their plight deserves a rare exception, despite these being unprecedented times.

Allowing Danielle to visit Maximilien from hotel quarantine is inadequate and could expose Maximilien to more risk than allowing Danielle to quarantine in Amy’s home, where stringent practices are already in place. Amy’s home is far safer than any hotel.

I plead with you to find it within your hearts to please consider this as a rare and exceptional case and please show some compassion