Brain cancer patient Gary Ralph allowed home as Qld overturns quarantine call
A cancer patient who had a brain operation in NSW will be permitted to quarantine at his Brisbane home instead of a medical hotel, the Queensland Chief Health Officer has confirmed.
Gary Ralph travelled to Sydney with his wife, Wendy Child, for the operation. Despite a letter from his doctor suggesting he should recover at home, Queensland Health initially denied him an exemption.
The couple was transferred from a hotel to a medi-hotel this week and were told an ambulance would transfer them to medical appointments.
Following a public outcry, Queensland CHO Jeannette Young confirmed on Friday the decision to allow the couple to quarantine at home after an overnight assessment.
"I asked one of the senior doctors at the [Princess Alexandra] Hospital to go and assess him last night. That occurred and based on that advice this morning, I've said he can quarantine at home," she said.
"There are a few conditions on that. I've asked for an urgent COVID test to be done on him and his partner this morning."
Queensland's Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young confirmed the decision to allow the couple to quarantine at home.
If the tests are negative, an ambulance will take Mr Ralph and Ms Child home.
Dr Young said she was reluctant to allow him to quarantine at home until she was fully satisfied he would be safe and comfortable.
"I didn't want to discharge him from our care to a situation that was unsafe for him," she said.
Ms Child told Nine's Today on Friday she and her husband were suffering mentally over the distressing position they were in.
Gary Ralph had brain surgery in Sydney and his wife Wendy pleaded for him to be allowed to go home.Credit:Nine
“I'm more concerned about his than mine because he needs all his physical and mental strength to do the treatment ... because Gary isn't cured," she said.
"He won't be cured. He has very limited time. He has to suffer chemotherapy and radiation in massive doses, we were told yesterday."
Ms Child said they would advocate for others experiencing similar situations with the government.
“We’re not the only people and ... I’m not going to stop this fight because they are messing with people’s lives and it is not justified at all at this point," she said.
Former deputy prime minister Wayne Swan offered to personally intervene.
"I'm a cancer survivor, I feel about it very personally, I must say," the ALP national president said before the Chief Health Officer announced the U-turn.
"I absolutely understand what that is like. It should be taken up very directly with the Queensland government – I'm happy to do it myself as well."
Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles said it had been "a pretty swift process" to get the exemption approved and he had not been contacted by the Prime Minister or Mr Swan about the case.
By Friday, more than 20,000 people had signed a petition set up by Mr Ralph's granddaughter Jessica, urging the Queensland Premier to approve home quarantine.
"My pop has stage four brain cancer and was operated on in Sydney last week to have the tumours removed. He now has to face chemoradiotherapy in Queensland but is not being exempted from hotel quarantine," she wrote.
"He will have to go through his treatment while living in a small room with just a bed and no balcony for two weeks. We are pushing for him to be allowed to quarantine in the comfort of his own home.
"Not only does the hotel quarantine impose unnecessary costs on top of the costs he has already endured, but it will play a huge effect on his mental health and potentially effect his further treatment."
Jocelyn Garcia is a journalist at the Brisbane Times, covering breaking news.
Lucy is the urban affairs reporter for the Brisbane Times, with a special interest in Brisbane City Council.