Little Thomas Collins, the boy in the bubble, passed away on Saturday peacefully in the arms of his parents at a Melbourne hospital.
After they were told that he would not wake up from an induced coma, Leah and Morgan Collins campaigned for Tom to be taken back home to Brisbane to spend his final days with his family.
All they wanted was for Tom to be with his family, and not to be left alone in a hospital when he passes.
“It is with deepest sorrow and fractured hearts that we tell you of Thomas’s passing this evening,” the Collins family posted on Facebook.
“He passed peacefully in the arms of his parents.”
On Wednesday night, after finding out that Tom had little time left, they filed an application with Queensland Health to give Tom an exemption to get home to Brisbane to be with his family.
It had not been received in due time.
“Despite our best efforts we were unable to get him home to Queensland,” they shared on Facebook.
“No response from Qld was received in time. We understood the potential conditions were very distressing and would have separated our family during transport.
“We would then be forced to quarantine in the room he would have passed in as he was unlikely to survive 14 days quarantine.
“We chose to do what our son needed most, which was to be with his parents in a peaceful environment to the end. We were able to do that for him.
Tragically, the Collins family now faces a period of 14 days of mandatory quarantine.
“Sadly, we now have a choice between 14-day hotel quarantine, or wait 14 days south of the border to get back to Queensland, via NSW,” they said.
“We wished we could be surrounded by family during this time but this is the hand we have been dealt.”