Bunbury teen with Cystic Fibrosis stuck in Ireland after visa issues

Christmas, four family birthdays, completing his TAFE studies and countless catch-ups with friends and Sunday dinners. That is what 19-year-old Sean Colgan has missed in the past seven months after visa issues regarding his cystic fibrosis forced him to leave the country he calls home. Moving to Bunbury from Ireland with his family in 2012, Sean went to school, played sport and studied in the South West, with dreams of becoming a personal trainer. But after the family applied for a new visa last year, his father Keith said Sean was rejected on medical grounds and told to return to Ireland to lodge another. Mr Colgan said he had been stuck there ever since, waiting on a decision from immigration while the rest of the family had been approved. A week ago they found out he had once again been rejected. It has led to the family starting a petition to bring Sean home, which has collected almost 38,000 signatures. “I am heartbroken and lonely, so far from my husband, daughter and home,” his mother Gillian — who has been staying with him in Ireland — said in a statement with the petition. His father Keith said the decision stemmed from the cost of a medication Sean had been taking — which he took part in a trial for in 2015 prior to its release on the market. But Mr Colgan said Sean wasn’t entitled to Medicare, so the cost shouldn’t matter. His girlfriend of two years Ashlee Cullen said they kept in touch through messaging and FaceTime but the time difference made things difficult and she missed him a lot. “Every time I go out I have my friends coming up to me saying ‘when’s he coming home’,” she said. Mr Colgan said without his wife and son — and his daughter living in Perth — he had to distract himself from how quiet the house was. They last week again launched an appeal and hope with the help of the petition, they can bring their boy home.