A Gold Coast father has been given the devastating news that he has just weeks to live after his dream wedding celebration in Fiji turned into a medical nightmare requiring a $107,000 emergency flight home.
Paradise Turned Nightmare
Matt Graham, 44, was holidaying on the picturesque island with his partner Bree, 27, when he suffered a sudden bowel obstruction just days before they were due to celebrate their wedding. The couple had already married in Australia months earlier but planned the overseas celebration after Matt's stage four colorectal cancer diagnosis.
"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."
The situation deteriorated rapidly when Matt's Australian doctors urgently advised the couple to return home immediately, warning that the father-of-two 'wouldn't be coming home' if they delayed.
Insurance Abandonment and Financial Ruin
In their most desperate hour, the couple discovered their travel insurance provider 'hung up' on them and 'left them high and dry', forcing them to pay the staggering $107,000 Medevac flight cost upfront.
"We got about halfway through our first day before everything turned to c***," Ms Graham recalled. "We were about two hours away from any hospital worth going to so we ended up making a makeshift hospital in the hotel room."
The emergency payment has completely wiped out their life savings, adding financial devastation to their health crisis.
Race Against Time for Experimental Treatment
Since returning to Australia, doctors have delivered the crushing news that Matt's cancer has spread to his liver, brain and bones, with his liver now blocked and shutting down. Medical professionals in Australia have indicated there's nothing more they can do.
The couple are now desperately trying to raise $250,000 for experimental treatment in India that they believe could save Matt's life. The treatment involves detailed bloodwork analysis by European company RGCC to determine exactly what chemotherapy and medications his specific tumours will respond to.
"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," Ms Graham explained. "Because they don't have the red tape that Australia has, they can give it to him."
Ms Graham, who works in the fitness industry, described their relentless battle: "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."
The couple take hope from success stories, including a UK patient with terminal cancer who was reportedly told she wouldn't make it to Christmas but is now planning her flight home for the holidays after treatment at the same Indian clinic.
Matt was first diagnosed with cancer in 2021 while living in New Zealand, where his two daughters, aged 10 and 13, still reside with their mother. After initial surgery and being given the "all clear", the cancer returned aggressively 18 months later, spreading to his liver and requiring surgery to remove 45 percent of the organ.
Doctors have since discovered Matt has the particularly aggressive and fast-growing BRAFv600e mutation, complicating his treatment options.
For Matt, the unwavering support of his dedicated wife and loving daughters provides the strength to continue fighting. "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," Ms Graham shared. "She just hears that her Dad might get better."
"That's reason enough for us to go. He is the best Dad, those two girls are his whole world," she added, her voice filled with emotion. "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."
The family's race against time continues as they appeal for public support to fund what they hope will be life-saving treatment, determined to explore every possible option in their fight against this devastating disease.
