Australians will spend today commemorating fallen soldiers, but one Queensland family says COVID-19 travel restrictions have made it impossible to grieve their 20-year-old son, who died suddenly after a military training exercise in the United States last week.
Leonid "Leon" Ciuffoli was a year into his career with the US Army and seemingly healthy when he died in Washington DC on April 12.
His mother, stepfather and two siblings remain stranded in Australia, unable to pay their respects.
"It is basically a horror movie within a horror movie," mother Elizaveta Sergeev-Ciuffioli said.
"We needed to be there for our boy and see him one last time — we don't feel like we can fully grieve properly here."
The family is desperately trying to secure Federal Government approval to fly to the US despite a strict ban on overseas travel as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Since receiving the tragic news, Ms Sergeev-Ciuffioli has been searching for answers about how her son passed away.
"All we know is there was an undiagnosed heart condition, but we don't know what happened," she said.
"He was progressing through the Army and was training for something called a 'ranger badge', which is a lot of physical activity.
"He came in after a training session and while he was getting ready in his apartment, something happened."
Travel exemption allowed on compassionate grounds
The family-of-three is now in Sydney and have renewed their passports and obtained US approval to enter the country.
"Now we need permission to leave Australia and we can't even think of booking flights until we have that," Ms Sergeev-Ciuffioli said.
Under Australian travel laws announced late March, citizens can apply to the Department of Home Affairs for an overseas travel permit on compassionate or humanitarian grounds, which may include the death of family members.
Federal Member for Leichardt Warren Entsch said he was confident the family's travel request would be approved.
"We moved as quickly as we could," Mr Entsch said.
"As of [Thursday] afternoon we've had [Ms Sergeev-Ciuffioli's] passport renewed [and] we've got passports for both the kids to travel.
"As of late [Thursday] afternoon we put in a request to give her an exemption to travel to the United States under special circumstances.
"Everything is lined up now so we're hoping she'll be free to travel."
'An Australian through and through'
A funeral for Leon is planned in California, where his wife and one-year-old son live.
But Ms Sergeev-Ciuffioli said her son spent most of his life in Cairns, where he was known as a joker and a people-person who was "wiser than his age".
"He is an Australian through-and-through — he calls everyone mate," his mother said.
"His love was boxing — this was the theme of his life, he just absolutely loved it — that was his biggest passion but there were so many other things."
Streets Movement Organisation chief executive officer Jesse Martin met Leon through the Cairns boxing community during his teenage years and said his death was a tragic loss.
"He was just a good guy and great man and it's very sad," Mr Martin said.
"He was very much in the prime of his life and to have that taken away is heartbreaking."
'It's been hell'
His 22-year-old brother, Anton Ciuffioli, said the tragedy had been difficult to comprehend.
"It's been hell — all this just doesn't feel real — we've just been trying to get to the States to be with him and say our final goodbyes," he said.
While it seems likely the family's travel application will be approved by the Australian Government, the next challenge will be securing a plane ticket, with limited international flights.
"There's just so much uncertainty — we really don't know what is going to happen," Ms Sergeev-Ciuffioli said.
She said she found some comfort in knowing her family was not alone in their grief, as thousands of soldiers are commemorated on Anzac Day.
'Unthinkable tragedy'
US Army Lieutenant Colonel Allen Kehoe extended his deep condolences to Leon's family in a letter, saying his death was an "unthinkable tragedy".
"Words cannot describe the sadness that I and so many of his teammates feel for his loss," the letter reads.
"As you know, your son was an essential asset to my battalion.
"Leonid's hard work and commitment to the memorial affairs mission were above reproach, even most recently during the COVID-19 environment."
Lieutenant Colonel Kehoe said a memorial for Leon would be held in the future.
