The mother of a Dublin family who are being refused permanent residency in Australia because of their son's illness has said that she doesn't want to return home to Ireland.
Balbriggan native Christine Hyde's son, Darragh, has Cystic Fibrosis and as a result, their "family’s application for permanent residency was then refused by the Australian Department of Home Affairs because they assessed him as having a condition which make him a burden on the Australian community."
Christine, husband Anthony and Darragh live in Seymour, Victoria and applied for a permanent stay down under shortly before their child was born in August 2015.
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Darragh was diagnosed with the illness shortly after being born and speaking to Australia's 9News, Christine said that had the diagnosis been a week or two later, they wouldn't be in this predicament.
Their GP asked for a letter detailing the condition of Darragh's health and she said: “Had [the letter been requested] the week prior [to his diagnosis] I wouldn't even be having this conversation."
The family are relying on Immigration Minister, David Coleman, to save them from deportation.
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She continued: “This is it for us. The minister is the only person who can help.
“We don’t want to go back to Ireland. There is nothing there for us.
She concluded: “We just want to be here, this is our home and for that to be taken away because our son has a medical condition, which was unknown, it’s just heartbreaking. It’s not his fault.”
The brave mum has set up petition on change.org and is hoping to collect 1,000 signatures to send to the MP.
On the petition she wrote: "Darragh has been doing extremely well considering his condition, and we have positive letters from his doctors and specialist stating that he should live a full life and that his disease progression will be much slower than average.
"His condition has no effect on his cognitive ability and should he wish to finish school and go to University, he has every chance at being successful in a career path of his choosing.
"Darragh is a bright boy with a positive future ahead of him.
She added: "We have always felt extremely grateful to live in Australia. I studied here gaining my Masters in Special Education.
"We have been living in Australia for almost 10 years and have a strong support network here with our friends and family and we are well settled in regional Victoria."
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You can sign the petition for Darragh here.
