Good news: Home Office reverses decision to refuse visa to Jamaican woman wanting to donate kidney to brother

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/home-office-reverses-decision-to-refuse-visa-to-jamaican-woman-wanting-to-donate-kidney-to-brother-9272345.html

'The Home Office has reversed its controversial decision to refuse a visa to a woman who wanted to come to Britain to donate a kidney to her seriously ill brother.

'Politicians, religious leaders, migrants’ groups and journalists had urged the department to allow the potentially life-saving visit to take place.

'Oliver Cameron, from north London, has been unable to work since suffering a near-fatal renal failure in 2012 and needs a kidney transplant to avoid daily dialysis.

'After his older sister, Keisha Rushton, was found to be compatible, the operation was arranged to take place last October.

'But when Ms Rushton, who lives in Jamaica, applied for a visa, it was rejected by the Home Office on the grounds that she might not return home.'

#KidneyVisa : https://twitter.com/search?q=%23KidneyVisa&src=hash&f=realtime

http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/kidneyvisa

.... “There is a fault if a system can’t allow compassion. I'm grateful the authorities have seen sense, but it’s been a long road to reach this decision.”

Petition: Please grant Oliver Cameron's sister Keisha Rushton a temporary visa to allow her to donate her already matched kidney to save her brother's life

http://goo.gl/FH21rF 

'UK Visas and Immigrant are refusing entry of a matched kidney donor for British citizen Oliver Cameron. Without a transplant Mr Cameron, who suffered from near fatal renal failure in December 2012 could expect to lose 12 to 20 years of life if he remains on dialysis.'

'When your kidneys fail your two options are dialysis or a transplant.  Dialysis is capable of about 10% of the work of a functioning kidney and because of its effects on the body can result in serious complications. Jamaican Keisha Rushton wants to give her brother the life changing donation of her kidney which will release him from the daily grind of renal dialysis.'

'Patients who receive a transplant typically live 12 to 20 years longer than dialysis patients.  Keisha Rushton is a matched living donor for her brother and is desperate to save his life.

'It is a brave decision for Ms Rushton to visit the UK to save the life of her brother, in addition to the typically 3 months time it takes for a kidney donor to recover assuming no complications, Keisha has a business, a fiancé, seven children and an elderly mother at home in Jamaica whom she needs to return to once this donation has been made.'

Previously -
#Kidneyvisa : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/kidneyvisa.html

The perfect kidney match - but not for the Home Office. Would you give up a kidney just to get into Britain? :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/the-perfect-transplant-match-but-not.html

Petition via https://twitter.com/HackneyAbbott

Also spotted on Twitter - 'It really comes to something when we have to petition to allow a kidney transplant to take place.'

#KidneyVisa

... is the hashtag being used to track this story :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/the-perfect-transplant-match-but-not.html

'Woman refused entry to Britain to give her brother a kidney' :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10762485/Woman-refused-entry-to-Britain-to-give-her-brother-a-kidney.html

"By taking a donor from within my family, we're ensuring that another organ could go to someone else. But the system is not built to take these things into consideration. From what I have seen, it's built to keep people who want to do good things out."

Letters: Bar on brave kidney donor disgraces Home Office :
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letters/letters-bar-on-brave-kidney-donor-disgraces-home-office-9257534.html

The perfect transplant match – but not for the Home Office: Would you give up a kidney just to get into Britain?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-perfect-transplant-match--but-not-for-the-home-office-would-you-give-up-a-kidney-just-to-get-into-britain-9255123.html

'Oliver Cameron tells Cahal Milmo how the heartlessness of Britain’s immigration policy is preventing his sister’s mercy mission from Jamaica.

'When Oliver Cameron made the difficult phone call to his family in Jamaica, to explain that he needed a donor for a life-changing kidney transplant, his elder sister Keisha Rushton did not hesitate. She told him: “You are the only brother I have got. I love you. Let me do this for you.”...

'... Despite the risks, Ms Rushton, a mother of seven, decided to sacrifice one of her two healthy kidneys for her younger brother living on the other side of the world, and applied for a visa to come to London to undergo the NHS operation.

'Mr Cameron, a plumber who has been unable to work since suffering near-fatal renal failure in 2012, borrowed £700 he could ill afford to fund her visa application, excited at the prospect of a future without the gruelling order of daily dialysis and being able to once more earn a living.

'While most people would have seen Ms Rushton’s request to visit Britain as the fruit of filial love and an admirable self-sacrifice, that was not how it was seen by those at the Home Office in charge of applying Britain’s draconian immigration rules.

'Inside was a letter bluntly telling her that she had been refused entry to Britain because she could not be trusted to return home. She had been unable to provide evidence to officials of her income in Jamaica and thus prove she would return home after the operation, the refusal notice said.'

Family values?