Tragic dad flies home (From Swindon Advertiser)

Tragic dad flies home

8:06am Tuesday 13th May 2008 in

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AN EMOTIONAL Arnel Cabrera will bid farewell to Swindon on Tuesday with his dreams of a new life in tatters.

Five years ago, Arnel and his wife Mayra were looking forward to starting a family and a new life far away from the Philippines.

But a drugs blunder, which led to Mayra being unlawfully killed at the Great Western Hospital shortly after childbirth, has changed all that.

Arnel not only lost his wife - he lost his right to stay in this country and bring up his son Zac.

Now, days after the Home Office rejected his visa application, the 38-year-old will board a Heathrow flight bound for the 6,500-mile trip home.

His solicitor Seamus Edney said that Arnel would be going back to the Philippines to celebrate his son's fourth birthday.

He said: "He's had enough of the process and this is the end of the game.

"But this is a travesty of justice for Arnel.

"It's very sad and shocking to think this has happened."

Mr Edney even set up an online petition on his website asking for public support in a last ditch attempt to keep him here.

He added: "He now wants to go back to the Philippines to see his son and get on with his life."

Arnel had given the Home Office a deadline of Wednesday to allow him to stay, but just a day later the Government department turned down his application to stay.

He has now decided to leave quietly and will not appeal against the residency decision.

He will say tearful goodbyes to his Filipino friends in Eldene, with whom he has been staying since the start of the year.

He maintained it had always been his wife's wish to raise their son in Swindon.

Arnel had been granted permission to stay in this country due because Mayra worked at the GWH as a nurse, but as soon as she died his immigration status changed.

Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust admitted liability for Mayra being administered Bupivacaine intravenously.

She suffered a heart attack, which a post-mortem later confirmed had been caused by drug toxicity.

The Crown Prosecution Service will now decide whether there is enough evidence to charge individual hospital staff, or the Swindon and Marlborough Hospital's Trust with manslaughter.

Lyn Hill-Tout, the chief executive of the Trust, said she was saddened Arnel had lost his right to stay in Swindon.

She said: "This is obviously a very sad conclusion for Mr Cabrera and his family.

"Our sympathies go out to him and his son Zac and we wish him well for the future."

Wiltshire Coroner David Masters had previously written to the Home Office insisting that Arnel be allowed to remain in this country.

And the show of support was also backed up by South Swindon MP Anne Snelgrove and Swindon Council leader Rod Bluh.