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Cancer patient loses visa battle Cancer patient loses visa battle
(about 3 hours later)
A Ghanaian woman who came to study in Wales five years ago has been told she must return to the African country, despite being terminally ill. A Ghanaian woman who came to Wales five years ago and became a student has been told she must return to the African country, despite being terminally ill.
Ama Sumani, 39, has been receiving dialysis at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff for over a year after cancer damaged her kidneys. Ama Sumani, 39, was taken by officials from hospital in Cardiff where she has been receiving dialysis for a year after cancer damaged her kidneys.
Ms Sumani, whose visa has expired, said she cannot afford this care in Ghana.Ms Sumani, whose visa has expired, said she cannot afford this care in Ghana.
She was taken from hospital on Wednesday. The Home Office said it was unable to comment on individual cases. Her solicitor said they had pleaded compassionate grounds. The Home Office said it examined each case "with care".
A friend said Ms Sumani, who was taken away from the hospital on Wednesday morning by immigration officials, was due to leave on a plane back to Ghana at 1400 GMT. Ms Sumani left hospital in a wheelchair at 0800 GMT with immigration officials and was driven away from the University Hospital of Wales.
She left hospital in a wheelchair, was put into a van and taken away at about 0800 GMT. A friend said she was due to leave on a plane back to Ghana at 1400 GMT.
The cancer she is suffering from - malignant myeloma - would ordinarily be treated with a bone marrow transplant.The cancer she is suffering from - malignant myeloma - would ordinarily be treated with a bone marrow transplant.
But because Ms Sumani is a foreign national she is not entitled to this from the National Health Service (NHS).But because Ms Sumani is a foreign national she is not entitled to this from the National Health Service (NHS).
The dialysis treatment she has been receiving is helping to prolong her life and her last treatment was on Tuesday evening.The dialysis treatment she has been receiving is helping to prolong her life and her last treatment was on Tuesday evening.
Legal statusLegal status
But it needs to be repeated regularly and there are concerns there are few dialysis treatment centres in Ghana. But it needs to be repeated regularly and there are concerns she would not be able to access dialysis treatment centres in Ghana.
Health care there is also private but Ms Sumani said she could not afford it.Health care there is also private but Ms Sumani said she could not afford it.
"Where I am staying is in a village and there is no hospital, there is only a clinic," said Ms Sumani. A spokesman for Ghana's high commission in London said the country had two fully-equipped hospitals in Accra and further north in Kumasi.
"That machine is only in Accra (Ghana's capital) and I do not know Accra at all." He did concede that access to treatment was costly but said that if Ms Sumani was a member of the Ghana national health insurance scheme she would still receive treatment.
A friend Janet Simmons said she did not know how Ms Sumani would cope back in Ghana. Ama Sumani was driven away from hospital to the airport
"She comes from the northern part of Ghana which is the poorest part of the country," she said. A friend Janet Simmons said Ms Sumani was a widow and a mother of two children, who were currently being looked after by members of her church in Ghana.
"Basically she has been sent there to die." She first came to the UK as a visitor in 2003, but then changed her status to student and attempted to enrol on a banking course at a city college, her solicitor explained.
Ms Simmons added that her friend was a widow and a mother of two children, who were currently being looked after by members of her church in Ghana. Ms Sumani's lack of English prevented her from pursuing the course and she went to find work which contravened her student visa.
Ms Sumani is being removed from the country rather than deported because her visa expired some time ago which means she has no legal status in the UK. In 2005 she returned to Ghana to attend a memorial service for her dead husband.
But when she came back to the UK her student visa was revoked and she was only given temporary admission which effectively meant she was given notice she would be removed, her solicitor said.
She did not keep in touch with immigration officials and was first taken ill in January 2006. Without the dialysis doctors fear she only has weeks to live.
Her solicitor said she accepted her removal was fair but said they had made representations on her behalf on compassionate grounds.
Ms Sumani is being removed from the country rather than deported because of her expired visa which means she has no legal status in the UK.
A removal means that in theory she could apply to return to the UK in the future.A removal means that in theory she could apply to return to the UK in the future.
Several appeals have been made on her behalf to keep her in Wales, all of which are now exhausted, said her solicitor. A spokesman for the Border and Immigration agency said said it would not remove from the UK anyone who they believe is at risk on their return.
One which stated that she was too ill to travel home was rejected by the Border and Immigration service last May. "Part of our consideration when a person is removed is their fitness to travel and whether the necessary medical treatment is available in the country to which we are returning," he added.
Ms Sumani said she came to Wales to study accountancy at a city college.