A furious mother last night blasted Canadian and Bermuda immigration authorities for putting her baby son's life at risk in a red-tape bungle.

Raymanda Davis rushed to Canada with weeks-old Wanai for urgent medical treatment -- but was refused entry because of bureacratic bungling in Bermuda and a hard-line attitude from immigration officers at Toronto's Pearson Airport.

And last night Ms Davis said: "They were actually going to put us on a plane back to Bermuda -- my son could have died on the return journey.'' Officials detained Ms Davis, mother Carolyn and little Wanai for nearly three hours before finally calling the Toronto Sick Children's Hospital and releasing the three.

Wanai was immediately admitted and put on breathing equipment due to low oxygen levels in his blood.

Ms Davis said: "I was nearly hysterical -- I'm grateful my mother was there, I don't think I could have handled it on my own. But I knew I couldn't start acting up -- my biggest fear was being sent back to Bermuda without access to a doctor and having a very sick child with me.

"Aside from actually pushing a gun in my face, I was treated like a dangerous criminal -- not the mother of a sick child. We were held at the airport for three hours -- it seemed like a lifetime to me. It was only 15 minutes before they let us go that they called the hospital.'' Ms Davis's ordeal began last month when she was told Wanai had to go to Canada for urgent tests within 24 hours. The youngster was ordered to Canada after starting to vomit when only two weeks old and losing weight.

Doctors in Bermuda feared a serious stomach problem, a virus or an allergy to a foodstuff -- and insisted Wanai travel to Canada for specialist tests.

But immigration officials in Bermuda told Ms Davis's mother that baby's names could no longer be added to a parent's passport and told her it would take eight days to issue one for Wanai -- despite the fact she was leaving for Canada that day.

Carolyn Davis said: "Appeals for additional emergency documentation were also ignored by the Immigration Department clerk. I was rudely informed that the passport would not be processed that day regardless of the situation and I was abruptly dismissed.'' She added: "I told them we were flying out that day -- but she said point blank it would not be done that day.'' The family was told by the Medical Social Work Department that a letter of permission for treatment from Wanai's father was not needed and she headed for Toronto.

My baby boy could have died -- mom But despite a sheaf of documents -- including proof of insurance cover and medical reports -- Raymanda, Wanai and her mother were detained by immigration staff in Canada due to lack of permission from the father for treatment.

Ms Davis said: "We got it at both ends of the journey -- and it was very serious because Wanai was dehydrated. He had high acid content in his blood, which can seriously damage organs and dehydration cuts down on oxygen intake, which can cause damage to the brain.'' She added: "When we finally got the hospital we told the doctor -- he was stunned.

"He said he had never heard of anything like that before -- and he said he had told immigration officials that Wanai was seriously ill and should be released. "And he said when immigration officials called him, they never mentioned we were in detention without medical assistance.'' And Ms Davis added Bermuda had welcomed Canadians as both tourists and members of the Island workforce -- but added that she had heard of other Bermudians being treated harshly by Canadian immigration.

She said: "Since Bermudians cannot be treated with equal respect by the Canadian authorities, we may need to re-evaluate our Bermudian-Canadian relationship.'' Neither Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Paula Cox or the Canadian immigration department could be contacted for comment last night.