A young woman faces not being able to see her mum before she undergoes potentially life-saving chemotherapy due to current hotel quarantine rules.
Heleen Bosch was diagnosed with an aggressive type of non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma last week and has a tumour growing on her windpipe, leaving her struggling to breathe or swallow.
The 25-year-old is preparing to undergo 'intense' chemotherapy at the Beatson Cancer Centre in a bid to save her life but is dealing with the added stress of not being able to see her mum beforehand.
Heleen, who is originally from Holland but has lived in Glasgow for over six years, organised for her mum Gerry to come over before her hospital admission today or tomorrow and received a letter from the Beatson urging the Scottish Government to grant her an exemption from the quarantine hotel rules.
Despite being told by a member of staff at the Scottish Government that the letter would be enough for her mum to avoid having to quarantine on her arrival in Glasgow, she was taken to the Holiday Inn Express and isn't being allowed to leave.
Heleen told Glasgow Live: "I feel terrified, I want to have seen my mum. I want her to see what I used to look like because I'm going to lose all my hair, I'm going to not look like myself anymore and for my mum to have not seen me before I go into this treatment is horrible. I just can't believe anyone with a pulse would be able to allow that to happen.
"I was diagnosed last Wednesday with a very aggressive type of lymphoma, which is cancer. On Friday, I was told that I was going to get really intense chemotherapy and the doctors recommended that my mum fly over as soon as possible to be able to see me because my chemo will start today if not tomorrow. My mum got everything organized to come over here.
"I spoke to various government officials and she had everything in place including letters from the Beatson to say that she's exempt from the rules and that she should be allowed to see me.
"But as of Monday morning, she's being held at the Holiday Inn. She's being treated like a criminal. She was promised that she would be transferred there and they would help her fill in the application and then she would see me by noon.
"As soon as she got there she was locked up, she's not allowed to leave. She's got guards outside her room and has been sent a note to say they weren't going to assist her, they gave a general email address for her to send anything to."
Gerry has been told by the Operational Management team coordinating the hotel quarantine, that her daughter must be dying or she must be attending a funeral in order to be exempt from the rules.
The Scottish Government's list of exemptions for arrivals includes oil workers and IT workers and anyone receiving pre-arranged medical treatment but no mention of exemptions on compassionate grounds.
Holland is currently not included on Scotland's list of high risk countries.
Since Monday, Heleen and a family friend have been contacting local MPs in a last-minute bid to reunite the mother and daughter before the treatment begins.
Heleen added: "The cancer is on my windpipe and I find it really hard not to get too worked up because I've been getting really bad chest pains and pains in general, my heart rate is through the roof because I just want to see my mum because. I don't know what the future holds.
"It's been an absolute nightmare."
A Scottish Government spokesperson responded today: “We have every sympathy with Ms Bosch and her daughter in this difficult situation.
"However, the rules around international travel are in place to limit the risk of importing new [coronavirus] cases and variants and there are very limited exemptions to the quarantine rules. Overseas travellers are urged to be aware of the international travel restrictions in place.”
