An Australian woman has made it in time to see her dying father after red tape, quarantine rules and a demand for her to spend $8000 on a private plane left her in fear she wouldn't make it.
Anna Coffey, 32, shared a photo of herself with her dad, who is in a palliative care ward in Melbourne.
Ms Coffey, who lives in New York City where she is studying, rushed home to Australia see her father one last time after he had a stroke.
READ MORE: Woman watched dad die on Skype after being banned from leaving quarantine
"Yeah, it was amazing. Just pure relief actually. Really, really special moment," she said on Today this morning.
"It was a bit surreal actually just thinking back to a few days ago when I was completely hopeless that that moment would happen, to actually be there was very overwhelming, very amazing.
"It was a bit heartbreaking, obviously to see him in the way that he is. But I was just so, so happy to be there and hold his hand. Even though he was sleeping for most of the time, it was special to be able to sit with him."
Ms Coffey flew into Sydney where she was put straight into hotel quarantine, despite being vaccinated.
READ MORE: National Cabinet set to slash the number of Australians allowed home
She was initially told she needed exemptions from NSW and Victoria before she was allowed to reach Melbourne.
And she feared by the time her 14 days of quarantine were up it would be too late.
As well as needing a rare exemption to leave quarantine, she was told she would need to pay up to $8000 for a charter flight so she could travel alone, despite testing negative for coronavirus.
Authorities eventually gave her permission, and charity Angel Flight flew her there to save her the money.
"I tried to explain with words but I don't think there are any words that kind of capture how thankful I was to Angel Flight...the kindness, just unbelievable," she said.
"I think this whole experience should make a change to the process so other people don't have to go through what I've been through."
While Ms Coffey has been able to say goodbye, many other Australians who have rushed home to see dying relatives have not been given permission to leave hotel quarantine early, even if vaccinated and test negative.
"I just really hope that the governments take that into consideration when they're looking through this process. At the moment, it's untenable, this is going to keep happening, unfortunately, so something big has to change because these moments are just so, so important," she said.
In her photo shared of the eventual reunion, Ms Coffey is dressed in full PPE at the bedside of her father.
She will have to go back into quarantine to complete her 14 days.
James Turbitt flew from Belgium and was denied an exemption to travel from Melbourne to Perth to visit his sick mother before she died.
Even if he was allowed out, he had been told he'd need to charter a plane to WA.
Maria O'Dea, who lives in the UK, watched her father John die via a Skype call from hotel quarantine in Queensland, after being refused permission to get out to visit, despite also being vaccinated.
However Mark Killan and his partner did manage to get to see his father in Queensland, after paying tens of thousands for a private plane from Sydney, where they were in quarantine. They were also fully vaccinated.
