Young Brit breaks down revealing the medical situation that made Australia BAN her from ever coming into the nation: ‘I’ll by no means be allowed in’

A young British backpacker who trains for marathons and travels the world has been banned from Australia because she has cystic fibrosis.

Regan Sparks, 23, spent years travelling solo around Europe and South East Asia, but was rejected for a working holiday visa in Australia last February.

The Albanese Government said she was too much of a medical liability due to her genetic disorder – an incurable condition which primarily causes damage to the lungs and digestive system.

Ms Sparks uses medications to manage her illness on the road and works with her team of doctors at home in London to make sure she’s fit to travel and fully prepared for any unexpected emergencies.

She has travelled to remote and off-grid locations, hiked mountains, ziplined in Asia, and was training for the 10km Paris Marathon until an ankle injury halted her progress.

She declared her illness on her Australian working holiday visa in 2023, and later promised to fund her healthcare privately – without Medicare, which she would normally be entitled to as a UK citizen.

Ms Sparks has now revealed her visa ordeal spanned more than two years, cost her roughly $1,000 in medical exams, and ultimately resulted in being rejected for working holiday and tourist visas.

In a series of emotional videos on social media on Monday, Ms Sparks said: ‘I will never be allowed into Australia.’

Regan Sparks (pictured) has been banned form entering Australia due to having cystic fibrosis

She broke down in tears in an Instagram video where she detailed the extent of her ordeal 

Ms Sparks explained she included her cystic fibrosis on her Australian working holiday visa application three years ago, telling her followers: ‘I didn’t ever think that would be a problem.’

About 14 months later, the Albanese Government requested a $950 medical exam.

A further 14 months down the track, she found out she had been rejected over the possibility her cystic fibrosis could be a drain on the Medicare system – even though she hadn’t been hospitalised in more than two years.

In her appeal, she offered to sign a form confirming she would cover her own health insurance and all medical expenses, and that she didn’t require support from the government.

When that appeal was rejected, she lodged another with letters from her doctors in London, along with a supportive letter from the Australian Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust.

In the video, she said: ‘[the Trust] basically said it’s f***ing barbaric not to let someone in based on a blanket assumption.’

Ms Sparks explained the government had rejected her based on a ‘hypothetical person of my age, with my condition, and how much I hypothetically could cost them’, rather than looking at her personal situation.

‘Which is just crazy because… CF is very individual, and it affects everyone differently, and I myself manage mine very well,’ she said.

The young Brit had been travelling around South East Asia and Europe when she applied for an Australian visa 

When it became clear she wouldn’t be allowed to live and work in Australia, Ms Sparks travelled through South East Asia and tried to apply for a tourist visa, hoping to at least visit. 

The same thing happened all over again – she was asked to undergo another $950 examination, and was ultimately forced to drop the application.

Ms Sparks said the only way she will ever be let into the country is if she marries an Australian.

She said she understood the strict medical rules for working holiday visas, but didn’t see why she couldn’t at least take a holiday in Australia. 

‘I think it’s so discriminating… the reason I’m so upset is that I personally have never ever let CF stop me from doing a single thing,’ she said.

‘I’ve never used it as an excuse not to do something that normal people do.’

A spokesperson from the Department of Home Affairs would not comment on Ms Sparks’s case, but told the Daily Mail that applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis and based on legal requirements.

‘With the exception of tuberculosis, the migration health requirement is not condition-specific, and the assessment is undertaken individually for each applicant based on their condition and level of severity,’ they said.

Ms Sparks ended up lodging two appeals with the government, but was ultimately unsuccessful

‘Having a disease or health condition does not mean an applicant will not meet the migration health requirement.’

The spokesperson said a medical officer considers whether visa applicants have a condition that could cost more than $86,000, and confirmed the estimated costs are ‘based on a hypothetical person with the same condition’.

‘For an applicant applying for a permanent visa, a [medical officer] will provide a costing for the applicant’s remaining life expectancy, up to a maximum of 10 years,’ they said.

‘If the applicant does not meet the migration health requirement, the department cannot grant a visa unless a health waiver is available for the visa subclass applied for and it is exercised by the delegate.’