MELBOURNE, Australia — An Australian woman is en route to Melbourne to see her dying father after catching a charity flight from Sydney.
Anna Coffey, 32, flew to Sydney from New York last week after her 80-year-old father John suffered a stroke and went into palliative care in a Melbourne hospital.
Coffey, who is fully vaccinated and has tested negative to Covid-19, needed to get exemptions from New South Wales and Victoria health departments and was told she would have to pay up to AU$8000 ($6019) for the charter flight to Melbourne.
But Angel Flight Australia, a charity involved in coordinating non-emergency medical flights, came to her rescue in a plan ticked off on the night of June 29.
Chief executive Marjorie Pagani said Coffey was released from hotel quarantine at about midday on June 30 and was now aboard a Baron G58 bound for Melbourne. The Beechcraft Baron G58 is a twin-piston aircraft derived from Baron G55.
“They just departed from Bankstown Airport about 10 minutes ago en route to Essendon,” Pagani said to the press.
She is expected to land at Essendon Airport later on the afternoon of June 30. Angel Flight Australia orchestrates about 50 compassionate flights a year, many often reuniting parents with sick children.
Although it is the other way around, in this case, Pagani immediately recognized she fit the criteria to be offered a compassionate flight.
“This young lady has already spent a fortune getting home to Australia and then to be asked to find another $7000 ($5266) to $8000 ($6019) is a lot,” she said.
“There aren’t many people that can charter a flight on a private matter. We have pilots standing by all the time to do compassionate flights.
“I’m so glad we could help out and get it done so quickly.” Coffey will even be offered a return flight should she need it.
“At this stage, she’s just keen on getting there and seeing her dad. Things could turn worse,” Pagani said.
“As soon as she’s ready, she can let us know where she wants to go after that.” Coffey had feared she would not make it to Melbourne in time to be reunited with John if she was forced to complete the required 14 days in Sydney quarantine.
Last week, US citizen Mark Kilian was reunited with his dying father at a Gold Coast hospital after spending eight days in quarantine and hiring an AU$15,000 ($11,285) chartered jet to fly up from Sydney.
(Edited by Vaibhav Pawar and Ritaban Misra. Map by Urvashi Makwana)
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