Covid 19 coronavirus: grieving family of Northland teenager battling exemption rules

The family of a Northland teenager who died after a car accident is fighting the government to allow quarantined family members living abroad an exemption from attending their tangi.

Trinity Flavell’s life support at Auckland City Hospital was disconnected last week, a day after seven family members, including her older brother and younger sister, flew in from Australia to see her.

Her aunt Syphia Talisa is challenging the Health Ministry’s decision to reject an exemption that she says has left her family angry and frustrated.

Flavell, 18, was driving a car with four friends as passengers on his way to dive for scallops and kina in Whangārei Heads when the vehicle crashed into a power pole near the intersection of Pipiwai and Matarau Rds on 5 September.

She was airlifted to Auckland City Hospital in critical condition, while her passengers were treated for moderate injuries at Whangārei Hospital.

READ MORE:
• Severely injured driver airlifted to Auckland after Pipiwai Rd accident
• More than 700 customers lose power after a car hits a power pole on Pipiwai Rd.
• One seriously injured in an accident near Whangarei
• Crash Warning: Northland Police Says to Slow Down and Drive Up to Conditions After Two Serious Crashes

Talisa said that the tangi would depend on the release of their relatives currently in isolation.

“I have gone to the Ombudsman on the matter. We are already in mourning, but the fact is that we are suffering from politics and bureaucracy. It is not only us, but other people in a similar situation who are also affected.

“We have had people enter the country without any quarantine because of their wealth or status. People were released on the 7th, the 10th, the 12th of their period of isolation.

“But for us, they would not even allow her family, who are only four minutes from the hospital, to see her for a few hours before they disconnected her life support,” he said.

The earliest that your quarantined family members can complete the quarantine if an exemption is not granted would be 8:20 p.m. on September 24.

A ministry spokeswoman said exemptions for exceptional circumstances, such as visiting a dying relative, were only approved when the risk to public health was assessed to be very low and manageable.

Most of the waivers were granted for people to join unaccompanied minors, people in transit, or people whose medical needs required hospital care, he said.

“Due to the serious public health risk involved, approval to attend a funeral or tangi where multiple people may be gathered is unlikely to be granted. This would create an unacceptable risk of potential transmission of Covid-19.”

In a small number of cases, he said, exemptions were approved for a temporary period and those exempted had to return to the managed isolation facility to complete their 14 days.

Flavell suffered serious injuries from multiple trauma including brain damage, multiple broken bones, liver injuries, and a torn airway.

She had two cardiac arrests, four surgeries, they removed her right lung and classified her as brain death.

Talisa created a Givealittle page that had raised $ 12,438 as of 2pm yesterday.

He described Flavell as a “sweet and gentle soul” who supported his family members through difficult times.

Before the blockade, for a few months, the 18-year-old worked on a private yacht sailing through Fiji.

“She had always wanted to travel, so she had a dream job. She lived and breathed in the water and the best people taught her their whānau.”

Talisa said Flavell had experienced and suffered a lot of pain after losing her father Rio, her mother Carlene, and her uncles Tony, Shannon, and Leon.

Flavell was able to overcome these painful experiences with the support of his sister Rakaia, brother Tawhiri and the love of whānau, the aunt said.

Talisa was in Auckland for a function and was the first member of the family to see Flavell when the teenager was taken to hospital.

His death brings the number of road deaths in Northland to 20 so far this year.