Cancer dad can now isolate at home after Tracey Grimshaw took aim at the Qld Premier over heartless treatment

Cancer dad Gary Ralph can finally isolate at home but it came after Tracey Grimshaw ripped into Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to “stop thinking of the polls”.

A brain cancer patient with months to live and was forced into hotel quarantine after major surgery will now be allowed to isolate at home following a change of heart by Queensland’s chief health officer.

It took an impassioned plea by a TV host and the Prime Minister Scott Morrison to bring attention to the plight of brain cancer patient Gary Ralph and his wife Wendy and their battle with Queensland Health.

The Logan couple had asked Queensland Health for an exemption so they could quarantine at home, in Brisbane, after the 71-year-old’s “life-extending”surgery in Sydney.

Until Friday morning, their pleas had been rejected.

Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young, who has been absent from media conferences the past couple of days, resurfaced on Friday to announce the Ralphs could isolate at home.

Mr Ralph was assessed at the Princess Alexandra Hospital before he was given the all-clear to head home on the proviso he tested negative for coronavirus..

“I asked one of the doctors at the PA Hospital to go and assess him last night,” Dr Young told reporters on Friday.

“I’ve said he can quarantine at home and there are conditions on that. I’ve asked for an urgent COVID test to be done on him and his partner and we’re awaiting those results.

“If those are negative then we have organised an ambulance to assist him.”

Th change of heart comes after A Current Affair anchor Tracey Grimshaw issued an emotional plea to Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to “do better” and “stop thinking about the polls” on air on Thursday night.

Mr Ralph’s cancer is aggressive and incurable. He now struggles with vision and balance issues, is unable to talk, and is at risk of seizures.

“His surgery was to buy time and without it, he was told he had about three weeks,” Grimshaw said during the powerful segment.

“He wants to go home, but he’s stuck in a Brisbane hotel … Supposedly to keep Queenslanders safe.”

Sydney surgeon Charlie Teo with Gary Ralph after the brain surgery.

Grimshaw said Mr Ralph’s wife “wants to cook for him and tuck him up in their bed at home and help him recover from surgery,” and their risk of potentially spreading the virus was lower than Mr Ralph’s risk of contracting it in the hotel, where they have been since Tuesday.

“The last thing she (Wendy) wants is to expose him to the virus,” she said.

“How on earth would allowing them to quarantine at home pose any threat to Queenslanders safety … bearing in mind that if you test positive to COVID in Queensland, you’re allowed to isolate at home.

“They haven’t tested positive … Why can’t they have this exemption? Do you think they’re going to be super spreaders? Are you kidding?”

Tracey Grimshaw has made an emotional plea to Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to do better, after her program shared the heartbreaking case of Gary Ralph.

Grimshaw took aim at the Premier for her lack of compassion, saying the couple had, only a month ago, been happy retirees.

“They’re now struggling with the devastating new shape of their lives and they want to make the most of their time,” she said.

“Can you imagine what they are going through, or are you too focused on the opinion polls?

“Do you really believe Queenslanders want you to treat other Queenslanders like this?

“Is this the best you can do?”

Wendy Ralph said on the Today show she and her husband Gary are part of Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's "political gain".

Speaking on Today on Friday morning, Mrs Ralph said there was “no justification except a political gain” for what she and her husband had been through since beginning their journey to return home.

“We’re not the only people. If Gary and I get a reprieve and we get to go home, I’m not going to stop this fight. Because they are messing with people’s lives,” Mrs Ralph said.

“It is not justified at all at this point.

“No one through this has told me why we don’t qualify... It doesn’t matter what source I went to, doesn’t matter who I spoke to in Queensland Health, I just kept getting the same result... It’s been hard to keep fighting because you get knocked back.”

Mrs Ralph said she and her husband were “really suffering mentally”.

“Another thing that bothers me is the Queensland Government, all of Australia, has been banging on for months, maybe even years about mental health,” she said.

“The Queensland government has affected our mental health greatly.”

Gary and Wendy Ralph had begged for an exemption to allow Gary to spend his remaining time at home. Now it will be granted.

Grimshaw said she had tried repeatedly to get Ms Palaszczuk on the show to discuss her border policies, but the Premier continues to refuse.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has become involved in the couple’s plight as well, but as Grimshaw put it “we don’t think that will do much … He’s tried that before.”

Speaking on Today on Friday morning, former Deputy Prime Minister and President of the Labor Party Wayne Swan said he would also be speaking to the Premier.

When speaking to the media on Thursday, Ms Palaszczuk said she wanted Gary to have “the best care.”

“If he and his wife are more comfortable in a hospital, (Queensland) Health should organise that,” she said.

In response, Grimshaw said “they don’t need to be in hospital. If they did, they would not have been discharged from the excellent hospitals in Sydney.”

“They need to be home.”