Deb and Eysha Tellis back in Australia after 10-month ordeal to get home from India

The former Belmont woman spoke to The Newcastle Herald from the Howard Springs quarantine facility in the Northern Territory, where she described feeling like a weight had lifted off her after a horrendous experience trying to get home from India since May.

Ms Tellis managed to secure tickets on a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade flight after a referral from a psychiatrist led to her being listed as a vulnerable person.

The diagnosis came after the pair went on a trip to Goa on India's west coast. It was the first time they had flown since buying $1897 tickets on a chartered flight to Australia in June. They had to miss that plane after Eysha tested positive for coronavirus, which they believe was a false positive, and were rushed into 12 days quarantine in a tiny, windowless room.

"I had a panic attack before the flight [to Goa]," she said. "I was worried I was going to get stuck again. I was going back through the process and thinking what if this happens again, what if we get stuck somewhere else.

"I was okay for a while, but while we were away in January, I got word the number of people allowed into Australia got reduced to half."

Related: Long road ahead for mum and daughter stranded in India

Her counsellor referred her to a psychiatrist, who prescribed medication for anxiety, and said it sounded like she had PTSD.

"He said 'the first attempt to get out has resulted in you having trauma'," she said. "It was always there, always underlying, but I keep myself really busy so I had no time to feel anything.

The psychiatrist wrote a letter saying she needed help getting out of India. The letter was forwarded through to DFAT, which listed her as a vulnerable person and prioritised her for a spot on the next available repatriation flight. Within 10 days she was on the plane, which landed on a RAAF base.

"It just felt so good, I didn't want to kiss the ground because that's a bit strange especially when the defence force are watching you come in," she said.

Ms Tellis and Eysha had bought tickets in July through Qatar Airways to redeem once international flights restarted so they could avoid the Australian hotel quarantine fee.

But she was recently told the $1500 tickets she bought were "so cheap" that she would be the first to be bumped off any flights that became available in favour of those paying the current price of $5000.

"When I worked it out financially, we would both have to pay $5000 for a ticket and would get free quarantine," she said. "This worked out cheaper, it was $1450 each for a ticket, and $5000 for quarantine for both of us and $1300 to fly back to Newcastle."

Ms Tellis said this latest experience had been very positive, particularly after last year's traumatic ordeal.

"Having that as a benchmark certainly helps you to feel very grateful for what you have," she said.

"With the charter flight, I really felt I was on my own, there was no consulate support. With the DFAT flight, the embassy was there waiting for you before you get to the airport. It made me feel like 'okay, we're going to be okay,'.

"The flight crew were really good, they were from QANTAS. They were super excited and hoping there was going to be more flights."

In quarantine, Ms Tellis and her daughter have their own rooms. A doctor or a nurse checks their vitals each day, a psychiatrist has made contact and the meals have included chicken parmigiana, barramundi and rice and lamb shank stew.

"The food is more than enough for me," she said.

The pair fly back to Newcastle on March 28 and Ms Tellis said one of the first things she plans to do after seeing her son and parents is go to the beach.

"I feel really good," Ms Tellis said. "I'm not waking up at 3 o'clock in the morning anymore.

"My anxiety is gone. I can't wait to get back to feeling 100 per cent normal in an environment I'm familiar with.

"Feeling stuck was really tricky. It was feeling like I was stuck and not being able to figure out how to get out and what is the best way to manage my mental state.

"That feeling of being trapped is gone. It feels so good to be back."

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