A woman has been prevented from flying to Australia to see her ill brother because of a smudge on her passport.
Tarlia Farrell, 29, was turned away at Gatwick Airport as her in-date passport had a small water damage mark.
The woman, from Camelford, north Cornwall, had spent £750 on flights to Perth, Cornwall Live reports.
Ms Farrell described the decision as "a devastating blow" given her brother was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour.
She said: “I was meant to fly on February 10. I got a last minute flight so travelled all the way to Gatwick from Cornwall.
“They put my passport through the machine and it came up with an error.
"They rang up their Australian colleagues and they said that they wouldn’t let me enter the country because my passport was damaged.”
The mum-of-three then made her way back through the airport and embarked upon the long journey home.
Tarlia added that she hadn’t even noticed the watermark prior to the passport being scanned.
A now she can’t claim the cost of the flights back because she failed to detect the issue so therefore she is technically at fault.
Tarlia told Cornwall Live: “My brother has lived there since he was 17. He’s 31 now and not very well so I just want to see him desperately. His health is deteriorating rapidly.
“I’m a single mum of three and can’t work due to a heart condition. I had to borrow money to book the flights so don’t have the money to book more.
“It was a devastating blow when I found out (I couldn’t fly). I was angry but more deflated and devastated I can’t see my brother.”
One of her friends set up a fundraising page to try and raise enough money to allow Tarlia to replace the passport, book new flights and be reunited with her brother.
