Melbourne man forced to split from wife ahead of life-changing surgery due to WA border rules

A Melbourne man who has been forced to delay life-changing surgery for 17 months is facing another coronavirus-related border huddle just days before the procedure.

Eli Solomon is booked in for the operation at the Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth on August 18 to treat unhealed burns to 15 per cent of his body.

The hospital is the only facility in Australia to offer the experimental procedure under Medicare.

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Due to Victoria's ongoing lockdowns and the number of rising cases, he and his wife Jacqui chose to fly to the Northern Territory to quarantine for 14 days, hoping to increase their chances of getting into Western Australia.

They applied for an exemption to enter WA after just 12 days of quarantine after the only flight that could get them to Perth in time for Mr Solomon's appointment was cancelled.

Travellers can enter WA if they have already completed several days of quarantine in another state under the condition they complete the remaining days of the 14-day period at home.

The Solomons would have had to isolate for a further three days in WA.

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But Mrs Solomon's G2G pass on compassionate grounds was rejected, leaving her stranded in the Northern Territory.

They couple had argued they came from a low-risk jurisdiction in Victoria and hadn't been to any hotspots.

Mr Solomon – who was set alight at home in 2015 – struggles to be in hospital without his wife's support.

He said a police officer told him he'd read hundreds of applications and "yours doesn't rate", the Brisbane Times reported.

WA Police said all decisions on exemptions were determined on a case-by-case basis.