An elated Candice Gannon told the Resident this afternoon (April 7) how she “still cannot believe” that daughter Ellie is on her way back home.
A fraught custody hearing in Faro’s Family Court summed up this afternoon with the public prosecutor reportedly saying Ellie should “live with her mother in Ireland”.
These are the words Candice Gannon had almost given up hope of ever hearing.
“No child should have to go through what Ellie has been through since she was kidnapped in July 2012 (by her Portuguese father),” she told us after receiving the news.
“I am just so pleased that the public prosecutor understands the benefits for Ellie being raised as part of a normal family unit in Ireland, with her mother, stepfather, sister and two little brothers.”
Candice continued: “For the past six months it was as if Ellie was on a life support machine and I was waiting to be told that it would have to be switched off.”
This last comment shows just how much heartache mother-of-four Candice has had to bear.
After the months of agony during the kidnap ordeal, the family was forced apart yet again when Candice had to travel to Ireland for medical help for her twin-pregnancy, and the Faro court wouldn’t let her take Ellie with her.
Since that time, Ellie has been living in a hotel room in Funchal, Madeira, with her father and grandmother.
Said stepfather Philip Gannon: “Candice has been trying to get permission to permanently relocate Ellie out of Portugal for the past six years. So this really is great news and it was very, very hard won.
“If the judge agrees with the prosecutor, which we really hope she does, a written decision should be issued soon and we can all get on with our lives,” he added.
Nonetheless, there is still concern. Candice is just desperate for the moment she can hold Ellie back in their arms. “It has been a living hell ever since Ellie’s father kidnapped her in July 2012, and I’m counting the minutes now until I can give Ellie back a normal family life,” said her mother.
“This is such great news! We still cannot believe it. Poor Ellie has been living in a hotel room in Funchal for the past seven months and every day her little sister Olivia asks when she is coming home.”
By NATASHA DONN
