Gold Coast dad told to ‘get comfortable’ fights for last chance treatment
A Surfers Paradise father faces a devastating choice after doctors told him to “get comfortable” as he battles an incurable cancer. But he refuses to give up.
A Gold Coast father has been told he may only have weeks to live after being diagnosed with incurable cancer in 2021.
But Matt Graham, 44, and his wife Bree refuse to give up, and are desperately hoping to raise $250,000 for life saving treatment in India.
“It is our last and only chance – a chance for more time,” Mrs Graham said.
“But it is very expensive, and after everything we have been through, we simply have nothing left.”
Mr Graham was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer in 2021.
After intensive chemo and surgery the dad of two young children was clear for 18 months.
But now the cancer has metastasised throughout Mr Graham’s body, including his liver and brain.
“It’s been a very long journey and a hell of a ride,” Mrs Graham said.
“He also has a very nasty mutation, the BRAFv600e mutation which is completely incurable in the eyes of Western medicine – so the last three years has been fighting a losing battle. Now we’ve reached the end of the line of treatments that are available to us in Australia.”
Mrs Graham said the treatment by specialists and doctors they had received had been incredible.
“We have been in touch with a couple of doctors and oncologists overseas,” Mrs Graham said.
“It’s lot to wrap your head around – but hearing and talking to some of the people that have been to these clinics, it’s just been too hard for us to ignore.
“He’s so young, he has two young kids (10 and 13) and we only got married this year. Giving up is not an option for us.”
In March this year the pair travelled to Fiji for their wedding, but after Mr Graham suffered a bowel obstruction the couple spent their entire life savings on getting Mr Graham home for emergency treatment.
“We ended up in a third-world hospital — it was honestly the worst week of my life and I didn’t think he was coming home,” she said.
“The medical care there was non-existent basically. We landed on the Sunday and by the time it got to that following Thursday, his team in Australia were saying that if I couldn’t get him home by the next day, then he wasn’t coming home – we spent our entire life savings on a Medevac flight back to Australia.”
Mrs Graham said the treatment in India could save his life.
“Every day we wait is a day he may not get back,” she said.
“We would have been able to potentially get us over there if it wasn’t for the Fiji incident that we had earlier this year. Neither of us are good at asking for help in normal circumstances, but this is a matter of life and death.”
To donate visit: https://gofund.me/7b1df25f9
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Originally published as Gold Coast dad told to ‘get comfortable’ fights for last chance treatment
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