The heartbroken parents of a young woman who took her own life after being denied entry into Western Australia to see her family have spoken out against cruel border closures.
Gillian and Alain D’Argent have revealed the ongoing pain they suffer having not been able to comfort their daughter Robin, who passed away on December 1.
The beauty consultant, 31, was refused entry into Perth in October and November of this year, after she moved to Sydney to start a new chapter.
While interstate and away from her parents, Robin struggled with PTSD and depression, both of which she had been professionally diagnosed with.
Gillian and Alain D’Argent (pictured) have revealed the ongoing pain they suffer having not been able to comfort their daughter Robin, who passed away on December 1
WA has remained tightly closed to areas considered Covid hotspots, recently slamming its door on NSW residents after the state was deemed an ‘extreme risk’.
Robin’s grief-stricken parents believe they would still have their daughter if not for the isolated state’s harsh border measures.
‘We believe that if she had been able to come through to Perth on a holiday we could have changed the situation,’ Mr D’Argent told 9News.
In a cruel twist, the couple are now stranded in Sydney after they flew east to organise their daughters possessions and be reunited with her ashes.
The D’Argent’s have also been knocked back twice by WA authorities in their attempts to obtain G2G passes and bring Robin home.
‘Absolutely devastated, it’s an extra stress that you’ve got on you that you shouldn’t have, it’s become a more stressful situation,’ Mr D’Argent said.
The grieving father told Perth’s 6PR radio that they had only received Robin’s ashes and death certificate on December 16, making it almost impossible to get a flight back before the border slammed shut two days later.
Robin’s grief-stricken parents believe they would still have their daughter if not for Western Australia’s tough border rules which denied entry to their daughter (middle) twice
The beauty consultant, 31, (pictured) was refused entry into Perth in October and November of this year, and experienced PTSD and depression while living in Sydney
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‘It’s not like we’ve come to Sydney for a holiday, we have come to deal with our daughter’s death which is traumatic enough, and we can’t even get home and try to start a life with the knowledge that our daughter’s no more with us,’ he said.
The couple have since experienced a break-through in their plight to return to Perth after being granted a last minute travel exemption on Monday night.
The D’Argent’s will be forced to grieve the loss of the daughter just days out from Christmas, while undergoing 14-day hotel quarantine in Perth.
Friends and family took to social media to send messages of support to the grief-stricken parents, one saying Robin went ‘too early in life’.
‘I miss you and love you so much. I wish I could turn back time,’ one of the beauty consultant’s friends wrote on Facebook.
Mark McGowan on Friday announced he would lock out Queenslanders for Christmas amid rising Covid case numbers and fears of the Omicron variant.
The WA Premier declared the Sunshine State as ‘medium risk’, meaning travellers must have an exemption to enter and isolate for two weeks upon arrival.
The D’Argent’s will be forced to grieve the loss of the daughter Robin (pictured) just days out from Christmas, while undergoing 14-day hotel quarantine in Perth
Tasmanians will also now have to self-isolate for 14 days in WA with the state now dubbed ‘low risk’, however they will not need an exemption.
Mr McGowan had already on Wednesday locked out NSW residents, deeming the entire state ‘extreme risk’ as Covid infections continue to soar.
Under the ‘extreme risk’ criteria, travellers from NSW will not even be able to enter WA even for compassionate reasons and exemptions will only be granted to certain government and specialist workers.
The measure will come into effect from midnight on Saturday, hampering travel plans for Australians hoping to spend Christmas on the west coast.
The Northern Territory has been deemed low risk, South Australia medium risk and Victoria extreme risk, meaning every state and territory in Australia will have to quarantine upon entry into WA.
Source: Daily Mail
