Sunrise star's family tragedy
Matt Doran has admitted what life is like for him and his family now after losing his grandfather and having to farewell him over a video call.
The Weekend Sunrise star was stuck in Sydney when he was forced to say goodbye to his pop, Brian George Doran, who passed away at age 99, in Melbourne.
The city is currently in its sixth lockdown and Sydney unfortunately isn’t doing much better, with strict border controls put in place between the two cities.
Matt shared he simply had to say goodbye to his grandfather and watch him through his final moments via a FaceTime call.
“Just this week, like so many other families across Australia, I lost my grandfather. He’s in Melbourne,” Matt shared.
“It’s not a situation unique to me.
“I had to say goodbye to him via FaceTime in the carpark at the (Royal Prince Alfred Hospital) waiting to get my first jab.
“That sort of sums up the experience.”
Matt will likely not be able to attend his grandfather’s funeral, due to the ongoing lockdown in Melbourne and Sydney.
“They’ll be lucky to have 10 at his funeral this week and I’ll speak via FaceTime,” he said.
Matt had a discussion with his co-host Monique Wright about the mental toll of the COVID pandemic.
“It’s the mental toll now that I think has been taken by so many,” Matt said.
“It’s a bigger problem than just saying how many deaths do we have, how many cases do we have... what is being denied to so many Australians who haven’t seen their loved ones in so long.
“It’s a big, big problem, families who are stranded overseas - they can’t come back and see their loved ones.
“We have to look at this as being a bigger problem than just simply case numbers.
“Quarantine has to be fixed and we need to deal with this in a much bigger, much more profound way than we are right now.”
Victoria, parts of NSW and Queensland are currently battling their own Delta strain outbreaks.
Images: Sunrise