The deportation of a Tamil man deemed so ill that he will require medics to accompany him on his flight, has been temporarily halted after his family refused to board a plane taking him to Australia yesterday.
Sangarapillai Balachandran was due to be deported from the UK to Australia, where he holds citizenship, despite fears over his health and fitness to fly. Balachandran has had three increasingly serious strokes and is known to have raised blood pressure. Long flights increase the risk of serious events such as strokes, and his family fear he could die on the flight.
As he was boarding the flight yesterday evening at Heathrow, his blood pressure was rising to 169/113, yet UK Home Office appointed paramedics deemed him fit to fly.
“Balachandran appeared disoriented and, at times, only semi-conscious as the family waited in the airport,” reports the Guardian.
A medical report obtained by the family by a psychiatrist expert said that, “In my opinion, he is at very high risk of further CVAs (strokes) and possible life-threatening consequences because of high blood pressure due to high levels of stress”.
The report said Balachandran’s condition was likely to worsen and that he was at risk of “life-threatening brain damage”.
Read more from the Guardian here.