[ad_1]
Renee West / Supplied
Renee West has reunited with her mother Lesley Haughey, who was given just one week to live after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
A Taranaki woman had to tell her dying mother that she loves her after struggling to reunite for the last time.
“It was emotional, very, very emotional,” said Renee West. “I just hugged her and hugged her, with tears streaming down our faces and I think the whole family actually did. It was a very surreal feeling.”
West traveled to New Zealand from Melbourne with his two children, Deacon, 9, and Macoy, 5, after their 59-year-old mother, Lesley Haughey, was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
They gave him weeks to live and begged his daughter to come home.
READ MORE:
* Coronavirus: the ’emotional roller coaster’ for the Taranaki woman obtained exemption to visit a dying mother
* Quarantine rules will not be bowed to allow Taranaki woman to visit her dying mother
* Renee Wright: what love and loss have taught me
But according to government rules, after arriving in the country, West was placed in an approved facility for self-isolation for 14 days. He was due to be out of quarantine on Saturday, May 9.
She had requested an exemption before returning and was rejected twice before the Ministry of Health (MOH) gave its approval last Wednesday.
On Thursday afternoon, West and his children were driven from Auckland to their mother’s home in Stratford after all negative tests for coronavirus.
“I said thank you for being the most amazing mother and she told me how proud she was of me. Then she said, ‘I’m glad you came earlier because I’m not sure I was able to hold out until Saturday.'” West said.
“It is a relief. It is so good.”
West had not seen his mother since last June when they were on vacation in Bali with his sister, so the first thing he did when he saw his mother was hug her.
Things
The last time West saw his mother, he was traveling to Bali with his sister Nicole Herewini last year.
“We have to have a conversation. We have to say ‘I love you.'”
Since their reunion, Haughey’s condition has continued to deteriorate.
“The last two days she has almost slept. You can say a word or two to her, but you cannot have a conversation with her.”
West never lost hope of seeing her mother again and was grateful for all the support she received from friends, family, and even complete strangers.
“I received about 30 private messages from strangers, people I didn’t even know, who offered to take me from Auckland to Taranaki, people who shared their condolences and beautiful messages,” he said.
“We are impressed by the support.”
“I am definitely grateful. Obviously it would have been more pleasant to spend a little more time with her and have done it earlier, but I am grateful that it happened when it happened and not a day later.”
1 NEWS
A reduction in restrictions would cause schools to reopen for everyone, restaurants to welcome customers, and domestic travel to be allowed.
