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Not only are they spending today in a managed isolation facility, her parents are isolated in another hotel and her husband, Steve, is home alone.
Hofmans, children Jesse, 11, and Petra, 12, and parents Neville and Lyn Goldsworthy made a frantic run to Perth in October to see their sister, Kaye Anstey, who was dying of brain cancer.
Diagnosed in February this year, the family was initially unsure how long the active 49-year-old would be in shape.
Anstey, a mother of two teenage sons, Zac and Max, underwent surgery later that month, for which the family paid a brief visit, before returning home just before Covid-19 hit and the country fell. closed.
The surgery was successful (surgeons managed to remove 90 percent of the tumor) before she underwent radiation and chemotherapy.
Anstey did so well that he even had the strength to take part in another bodybuilding competition, one of his passions. That was in October.
Later that month, they got a call saying he had had a rapid decline and decided to drop everything, endure the two-week controlled isolation in Perth, and hope he could hold out until they got there.
“The two weeks of iso were very strict. We were not allowed to leave the room for 14 days,” Hofmans said.
“We fought every day to get a waiver as Kaye changed every day and we were afraid it would happen before we could get to her.”
After 10 days, they started to have some traction and were finally given approval to leave a day early, on the 13th.
Fortunately, her sister was a fighter and was looking forward to her visit.
However, after only nine days he succumbed to the disease.
“My sister was strong and positive; she was a wonder woman. What she endured for the past nine months, and competing in a body figure competition a month before her death was a testament to the women that she was.
“Quarantine is nothing compared to that.”
Upon learning of the decline in administered isolation vouchers, they managed to secure a spot by December 15.
Now, they are desperate to return to New Plymouth, where their father and her husband, Steve, are eagerly waiting.
“Steve has sent gifts, including underwear and socks for the kids and a bottle of Moet for me, to open five days before Christmas,” Hofmans said.
“Our neighbors have sent us a box of gifts for the children and mini Moet for me, another neighbor sent us a gift box of sweets.
“They have taken such good care of us, we are grateful for the generosity. Having Christmas morning through Facetime with Steve was difficult, more tears, but now we are used to crying.”
His parents were also currently in controlled isolation, but at the Auckland Novotel in Ellerslie, and given various options for Christmas Day. They opted for the poached eggs and baked beans for breakfast.
After 10 weeks away, four of them in managed isolation facilities, the Hofmans return home, exhausted, on Tuesday.
The Goldsworthys have one more week to spend in isolation before returning to New Plymouth as well, and the family will finally be together again, with their beloved sister and daughter forever in their hearts.
