'This will be tough': Adelaide parents diagnosed with cancer just hours apart

"To see them go through it at the same time, and with kids at that age, that’s what really breaks my heart..."

Just hours after Adelaide mum-of-two Kirsty Lee received the harrowing news from doctors she had breast cancer, her husband, Steve, was told he too had a difficult cancer battle ahead.

Kirsty was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer on November 22 after finding a lump in her breast and getting a mammogram, while Steve was diagnosed with rectal cancer after receiving an abnormal colonoscopy result the week prior.

"They both have cancer. They were diagnosed on the same day," family friend Sonya Kohlhagen wrote on a GoFundMe she has launched to support them during this difficult time. 

In December, the pair will begin six to 12 months of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. 

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Kirsty and Steve were diagnosed with cancer just hours apart. Image: GoFundMe

"This will be tough"

"This will be tough," Sonya wrote. 

"It's tough for everyone going through it."

Their friend explained how the couple has limited leave available at work and will likely need to move out of their house.

"To see them go through it at the same time, and with kids at that age, that’s what really breaks my heart."

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Kirsty and Steve will begin treatment in December. Image: GoFundMe

Over $20,000 already raised

The money raised will go towards the family's bills and everyday needs as well as the couple's medical treatments and the care needed for their children while "Steve and Kirsty are both off work and fighting the fight that their kids need them to win". 

At the time of publication, over $20,000 has been raised.

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The Lee family of four. Image: GoFundMe

"Their life really is family"

Prior to their diagnosis, Kirsty and Steve, who are in their early 40s, were busy "embracing the crazy, hectic lifestyle" associated with raising a four-year-old boy and five-year-old girl.

"Life with kids at this stage is not always easy, but it is absolutely worth the challenge and they wouldn’t have it any other way," Sonya wrote.

Kirsty with her two children aged five and four. Image: GoFundMe

In an interview with Nine News, Sonya described her friends as "lovely" and "really unassuming and humble". 

"Just really happy with the simple things in life," she said. "Their life really is family". 

She said they were still processing the news.

The couple has been together for eight years and got married in 2020.

According to Cancer Australia, breast cancer was, in 2018, the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia, and is expected to remain that common this year.

In 2022, it's estimated 20,640 new cases will be diagnosed, with women having a one in eight risk of being diagnosed by the age of 85 and men a one in 668 risk.

For bowel cancer, Cancer Australia estimates it will be the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the country in 2022, as it was in 2018, with an estimated 15,713 cases diagnosed (the majority in males).

Men have an estimated one in 18 risk of being diagnosed by the age of 85, while women have a one in 21 risk.

Originally published as 'This will be tough': Adelaide parents diagnosed with cancer just hours apart