Banora Point mum and special needs daughter miss appointment after nightmare wait at border

A mum and her special needs daughter were made to wait hours to cross the NSW/Queensland border for an appointment with specialists on the Gold Coast. They didn’t make it. FULL STORY >>>

A BANORA Point mum waited four hours to cross into Queensland to take her five-year-old special needs daughter to appointments on the Gold Coast.

Unable to walk or talk, Nina Miska has therapy and medical appointments every day, all of them across the border and about 20-25 minutes from her house.

After waiting in the car on Monday and missing the appointment, Renata Miska said she had no choice but to drive straight back home.

Nina Miska, 5, and her mother Renata had to wait four hours in the car to get through the NSW/Qld border checkpoint.

Vehicles waiting to get through the NSW/QLD border checkpoint.

Ms Miska said she had snacks, an iPad and only sipped water so she didn’t need to use the bathroom.

“Nina knows sign language and was asking to use the toilet, but we just had to wait,” she said.

Because the family used to live in Mudgeeraba all Nina’s specialists are on the Gold Coast and her two older siblings attend school in Burleigh Heads.

“There has to be a smarter, more streamlined approach at the M1 checkpoint, maybe for people like me that are crossing daily we can have our own pass.

“A friend’s elderly parents had to wait six hours to cross the border so they could attend a chemotherapy appointment.

“Children with disabilities shouldn’t be sitting in a car for so long. Surely someone can come along and help speed up the process, especially since at the checkpoint they’re stopping cars one-by-one.”

Nina Miska, 5, and her mother Renata had to wait four hours in the car to get through the NSW/QLD border checkpoint.

Ms Miska said she’d been unable to find out if she would need one dose of a Covid vaccine to keep crossing the border from August 20, as required for essential workers. She’s booked for a jab in September because it’s the earliest she can get.

On Tuesday, Queensland recorded one new local Covid-19 case linked to the southeast school cluster and one new overseas-acquired case detected in hotel quarantine.

There are now 110 active cases across the state and 10,837 tests and 14,300 vaccinations were conducted in 24 hours until 10am Tuesday. There are 2895 people in home quarantine.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk revealed her government was still in talks with the NSW government regarding shifting the border south to Tweed River to reduce traffic woes. She said the decision was up to the discretion of the NSW government.

Forced to pee in bottle: Tweed grandad’s horror border wait

A TWEED grandfather with an array of serious health conditions was forced to urinate in a water bottle while waiting about five hours in traffic at the Queensland-NSW border.

Ken Thomson, 80, and his wife Judy, 59, left their Casuarina home at 6.30am on Monday for Mr Thomson to receive an immune system-boosting treatment at John Flynn Private Hospital.

The retired couple did not arrive at the Tugun hospital for the 7.30am appointment until midday, after waiting in a long queue of vehicles.

Mrs Thomson said she was shocked to find what appeared to be a solitary police officer manning the border on the Pacific Motorway (M1), checking each car due to Queensland’s tougher border restrictions.

“Ken has to have the immune system treatment for the rest of his life, every month,” she said.

“With all the other border closures we’ve never had much of a problem. We normally take the Gold Coast Highway and wait about 10 minutes.

“If we had any idea we would be sitting in that car for five and a half hours, I mean, Ken needed it (the treatment), but we would’ve postponed for a few days.

“Ken had to do a wee – he had to have a litre of water before he had his IV – and he had to go to the toilet in his water bottle.

“Ken is in a walker as well so it’s not like he could jump out and go to the bushes.”

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Ken Thomson, 80, and Judy Thomson, 59, from Casuarina in the Tweed Shire said they waited five hours in traffic at the border. Picture: Supplied.

After getting to the hospital, Mr Thomson spent hours in treatment in the oncology ward while Mrs Thomson waited in the car due to Covid-19 restrictions.

On Monday morning, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk flagged waits of about half an hour on the highway and an hour on the M1.

Mrs Thomson said they were not opposed to border closures and contracting the virus would have dire consequences for her husband.

But they were baffled to see such a limited police presence.

“But we had to be calm. What do you do? You’ve got to be patient. There were some people who weren’t so patient,” Mrs Thomson said.

“So we just sat patiently. We phoned the hospital about four times to say ‘we’re still coming’. They said to still come, because he (Ken) needs it.

“We usually go the Gold Coast Hwy, but we chose not to this time because police are diverting the trucks onto the highway.”

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Police at the on the Gold Coast Highway in Coolangatta on Tuesday. Picture: Nigel Hallett.

Mrs Thomson praised John Flynn staff and said they were helpful and accommodating, despite the unfortunate delay.

She said friends had since reported delays of about two hours at the border.

Of course, wait times vary depending on time of day and the number of police working, among other variables.

“We’ve got a friend down the road from us and he’s got to have radiation therapy 36 days in a row, except for weekends. They went the Gold Coast Hwy and it only took them two hours,” Mrs Thomson said.

The couple suggested a separate checkpoint for people who have to cross the border for surgeries or crucial medical appointments.

They were not the only ones to contact the Bulletin regarding waits of four hours or more on Monday.

Queensland Police, Queensland Health and the Premier’s office have been contacted for comment