An Aussie dad has been told he has just weeks to live after he was forced to call off his dream wedding in Fiji and get a $107,000 emergency flight back home.
Matt Graham, 44, was holidaying on the picturesque island with his partner Bree, 27, when he ended up with a bowel obstruction just days before they were due to wed.
The Gold Coast couple had got married in Australia a few months prior but wanted an overseas celebration after Matt was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer.
Ms Graham said the blockage came on quickly, with his doctors in Australia urging the couple to return immediately or the father-of-two 'wouldn't be coming home'.
They were forced to pay for a Medevac flight to the tune of over $107,000, after their travel insurance 'hung up' on them and 'left [them] high and dry'.
'That was probably the worst week of our lives when it should have been the best,' Ms Graham told Daily Mail.
'He'd been doing well - the clinical trial he was on before we left for Fiji was shrinking all the tumours, his markers were going down. We hadn't had any complications.
'We got about halfway through our first day before everything turned to c*. We were about two hours away from any hospital worth going to so we ended up making a makeshift hospital in the hotel room.'
'I would sacrifice everything to save him, but I cannot do this alone,' Bree Graham said.
Ms Graham described her husband as the most loving and caring father to his daughters.
Matt's two daughters - aged 13 and 10 - are hoping their dad responds to the new treatment.
Ms Graham said the couple were forced to pay the hefty cost upfront - a move that has stripped them entirely of their life savings.
Matt was first diagnosed with cancer in 2021 when he was living in New Zealand, where his two daughters, aged 10 and 13, still live with their mum.
He underwent surgery to remove the tumour and was given the 'all clear' but 18 months later the cancer returned with a vengeance.
A scan following a 'suspected hernia' showed the cancer had spread to his liver.
Matt underwent major surgeries to remove 45 percent of his liver and endured months of chemotherapy and treatments.
Since the couple's ordeal in Fiji, they've now been told there is nothing more doctors can do after the cancer spread to Matt's liver, brain and bones.
His liver now has a blockage in it and is shutting down.
The couple are now hoping to raise $250,000 for Matt to try, in what they believe, will be a life-saving treatment in India.
It was discovered that Matt has the aggressive and fast growing BRAFv600e mutation.
'It's been constant since May 2023 - it's encompassed our entire life and changed everything... and now he's at the point where he's run out of options,' Ms Graham, who works in the fitness industry, said.
'The clinic in India sends his bloodwork to a European company called RGCC and they test his bloods and tumours to find out exactly what chemotherapy dose he needs, and what medications and supplements his tumours are sensitive to.
'And then, because they don't have the red tape that Australia has, they can give it to him. It sounds so simple, but the issue is, they won't give it to him here because it's not the PBS-funded, or government-recommended dosage or type of medication to cure his type of cancer.
'We heard about a UK patient at the clinic who had terminal cancer and was told that she wasn't going to make it till Christmas. Now they're talking about her flight home for Christmas because she's on the mend.
'So when we talk to people like that, we just can't ignore it. I can't not try to get him there... because I genuinely don't know how long we can keep him going here.'
As for Matt, knowing he has the support of his dedicated wife and loving daughters is what keeps him pushing on.
'Every time we talk to his eldest daughter about it, she just has the biggest smile ever and you can tell none of the other things matter to her. She just hears that her Dad might get better,' Ms Graham said.
'That's reason enough for us to go. He is the best Dad, those two girls are his whole world. It's been so amazing to watch his girls and see how deeply he cares for them.
'I feel their pain and I don't want them to lose their dad, as much as I don't want to lose my husband.'