Reason every Project host was in tears on Sunday’s show

The hosts of Sunday night’s Project were so moved during one segment, and there’s a rather rare and incredible reason why.

The hosts of Sunday night’s Project were moved to tears during an utterly heartbreaking segment.

Host Georgie Tunny interviewed 32-year-old Emily Lahey, a brave woman who is fighting cancer and decided to auction her final moments for research into the deadly disease.

When the segment concluded, the hosts couldn’t hide their emotions as they praised the strong Melbourne resident as “heroic”.

Lahey, who had a flourishing career and was travelling the world in the Defence Force just four years ago, told Tunny she was floored when she was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer called NUT carcinoma.

There are only a handful of people diagnosed with this type cancer every year around the globe.

“I was given the diagnosis of NUT carcinoma, it was so rare that my oncologist hadn’t actually heard of it,” Lahey said. “We decided to Google and discovered it doesn’t respond well to treatment and it doesn’t have a very good prognosis.

“It was diagnosed in my sinus and skull bones. It didn’t grow in a usual way.”

Lahey discovered that she would have only six-nine months left to live.

Project hosts were moved by Emily Lahey's story. Picture: The Project

This prognosis came as a shock, as Lahey was young and healthy prior to her diagnosis, saying she had “plenty of goals, aspirations” in life.

“I wanted to start a family, there was a lot more travel goals. I had a bit on my plate. I was fit and healthy. Running 5-10km a day. A stage 4 cancer diagnosis at that point was the last thing on my mind.”

She was not expecting her cancer diagnosis. Picture: The Project

The determined Melburnian faced chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy and as the cancer progressed she lost vision in her left eye. The cancer then spread to her brain, and doctors haven’t given a time frame for her life expectancy.

However, despite her terminal illness Lahey is determined to make the most of the time she has left.

“When I was diagnosed, my mum and I had this mantra of be present,” Lahey explained. “And that’s something that I have taken with me every day since. To live in the now. To make the most of the opportunities that you’re given and to make opportunities for yourself.”

After gaining three unexpected years due to genomic sequencing and special access to a targeted treatment, Lahey has been working on her “living list”.

“I have a living list. Not a bucket list … So I wanted to swim with the whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef. Tick. Cage dived with great white sharks. Tick. Abseiled the Gordon Dam in Tasmania. Swam in the pool at Marina Bay Sands. There’s still plenty of living to be done yet.”

Lahey was young and healthy prior to her diagnosis. Picture: The Project

Lahey is determined to keep achieving her goals. Picture: The Project

Lahey said terminal illness has brought on a new appreciation for her relationships.

“You quickly learn an appreciation for what truly matters,” the brave woman said. “It’s time with my family, time with my friends and the people that support me. Creating and making memories and just making the most of every day.”

Her husband Jason has been a massive support system, with the pair meeting shortly before they discovered she had cancer.

“We met fit and healthy. I had long brown hair and when he saw me three weeks later, I was hooked up to chemotherapy at home, bald head. And he said ‘I’m not going anywhere’.”

She said of her wedding vows: “They were difficult. How two people in such imperfect circumstances could make something otherwise so perfect.”

An emotional Georgie responded, tearily: “Sorry. You make me cry. Do you ever get mad at the world? That’s not going to be your forever?”

“Yeah. F*** yeah I do,” Lahey replied passionately. “I know you probably can’t put that in, but f*** yeah. I get so mad.”

Project host Susie was moved. Picture: The Project

And reached for a tissue. Picture: The Project

When it comes to dealing with that anger, Lahey said: “I think you just ride that wave. Being able to see the world with a slightly different perspective. Not getting caught up in just that daily grind.”

However, when asked what scares her, Lahey expressed how the prospect of her upcoming death is frightening: “Dying. It always has. Because someone dies and the world just keeps turning. The world doesn’t stop.”

Project hosts were moved by Emily Lahey's story. Picture: The Project

Despite all that she is going through, Lahey is determined to help others and auctioned pieces of her remaining time to strangers in Sydney for an exhibition, Time to Live, which was supported by Australian Cancer Research Foundation.

Visitors to Sydney’s Carriageworks were able to spend time with Lahey, with a large timer on the wall counting down from three minutes.

“I don’t know if it counts as a legacy but I hope that they remember me for someone who was trying to do good,” Lahey said.

“I hope that it allows them to see life with maybe a slightly different perspective.”

Georgie cried – and at times laughed – during the segment. Picture: The Project

She enjoys spending her precious time helping others.

“And whilst I still would have a been pursuing a career in the Army, I think this is just as, if not more, fulfilling.”

Becoming a living art exhibition is her way of shining a light into the darkness of her disease.

“Cancer is a darkness. It lives inside me. Trying to take my life. To shine a light on the concept of time it’s one of those things you don’t have to think about until it’s either happening to you or somebody else.”

And Lahey’s final message to others: “It’s time to live. Be present. Make the most of it because it can’t be bought. Can’t be saved. When it’s gone, it’s gone.”

As the prerecorded segment aired, the cameras focused on the Project host’s reactions, and they were moved.

Michael Hing gushed: “Wow, stories like that remind you how precious life is and when you think about how little life Emily has left, and she has so much living she wants to do, the facts she’s committing those precious moments she has … That was heroic.”

Rachel Corbett agreed: “Very selfless”.

Project hosts called Lahey “heroic”. Picture: The Project

Georgie Tunny said through tears: “I think that is the word. She was so open, anyone could come and talk to her about anything.”

She paused as Corbett reached out to comfort her and then continued: “Excuse me. She’s got such a lovely spirit and it’s one of those stories that I think will stay with me for the rest of my life. Because, you’re right, the selflessness that she showed to us.”

Corbett said, voice wavering while she also clutched a tissue: “But that’s her legacy. The impact she’s had on you and the people who have sat next to her and us. We need sometimes a massive reminder in our lives because we take a lot of stuff for granted and we need to sit down sometimes and be like, ‘not everybody gets this’.

“If you have time and you are lucky enough to have that time, you better use it.”.

Susie Youssef joked: “I just feel so sorry for her she had to spend that time with such an awful person.”

As Tunny wrapped up the segment amid laughter, Corbett said: “Makeup to studio one”.

Originally published as Reason every Project host was in tears on Sunday’s show