The Home Office has decided to issue the grandmother of 13-year-old footballer Damary Dawkins with a visitor’s visa to attend his funeral on Friday, HuffPost UK can reveal.
A spokesperson said that a review of the initial refusal was made “in light of the compassionate circumstances”.
A Change.org petition calling for the Home Office to overturn its decision amassed over twenty four thousand signatures.
“It is heartbreaking and cruel not to let Ivy say goodbye to her Grandson. I’m calling on them to urgently overturn their decision. Please help us by signing,” the page read.
“The Home Office say Ivy doesn’t have the savings to support herself. Ivy is retired and has a family to support her stay - both Damary’s parents Nadine and Tony work and have sent a range of documents to the Home Office to prove this.”
Crystal Palace youth player Damary Dawkins, 13, died of leukaemia last month and his funeral service will take place in Dagenham on Friday.
Raheem Sterling supported the campaign by Damary’s family to find a suitable stem cell donor and became close to the youngster.
The Manchester City forward will cover all the costs for the funeral, it was announced on Tuesday.
“Damary was a special young man who touched a lot of lives, including my own. Positive until the end, he was an example to us all,” Sterling said.
Dawkins’ grandmother Ivy, 67, lives in Jamaica and had wanted to fly over for the funeral. But the Home Office refused the visa application, it was reported on Friday.