MIQ reverses decision on Kiwi man with cancer Trev Ponting stranded in Japan

MIQ have reversed a decision which would have left a dying Kiwi stranded in Japan.

Japan-based Trev Ponting has terminal brain cancer, and all he wants is to get home to see his mother.

But when an application for emergency spots in managed isolation was made for the 46-year-old, his wife Aiko and their two young children, it was turned down yesterday.

The decision prompted a plea for help from his Christchurch-based family, particularly after it emerged children’s entertainment group The Wiggles had hurriedly been granted MIQ spots for 12 of their crew ahead of a nationwide tour.

“I couldn’t believe it,” sister Yvonne Ponting said.

“This is New Zealand – we care about each other in this country.”

But tonight MIQ reversed the decision, and granted the emergency application, Newshub reported.

Ponting had previously been rejected from a spot in MIQ, something which would dash the final wishes of him and his family in New Zealand, plus his friends in Japan. Then the application for emergency spots was turned down also.

Her brother, who has lived in Japan for 20 years, had told them his dying wish was “to be with his mum”, Yvonne Ponting said.

“”He has said to us: ‘I just want to be with my mum’.”

Ponting has been living in Japan for the past few years, where he works as a ski instructor.

In 2019, around Christmas time, he received devastating news that several tumours had been found in his brain.

He underwent surgery to remove the tumours and spent 72 days in hospital that year.

A long recovery process awaited him and the family sought to try to move to New Zealand after new tumours were found about September last year – but then of course the world had turned upside down due to Covid-19.

His doctors have now told him he will only have a few months to live.

Ponting’s heartbreaking story led to a huge backlash over the decision, with thousands of posters on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook calling on the Government and those running MIQ to reverse the earlier decision.

Source: Read Full Article