A mum and dad of two pre-teen boys have both been told they have terminal lung cancer.
Mery Brooke-Smith received the devastating news just five months after her husband Graham was diagnosed with the same condition.
Doctors have been left baffled by the cruel twist of fate facing the non-smoking married couple who have both lived healthy lives.
The parents, from New Zealand, have been told they have around six months to live if they don't receive treatment for their stage four lung cancer.
They must pay for the treatment themselves and have started a crowdfunding page to help them do so in the hope it will give them a few more years with their two sons, aged nine and 11.
Graham's diagnosis came first, in January, after he visited the doctors with a back complaint. Numerous tests revealed that he had cancer which had spread to his spine.
Mery's diagnosis followed just five months later. She was also found to have lung cancer that had spread to her spine but hers is more aggressive and has reached her thigh bone as well.
Speaking to Stuff, Graham said: “I was quite stoic when we found out about my cancer, I knew the kids would have their mother around at least. I thought that wasn’t so terrible.
“We prepared for it, set up plans, the will. Then everything went pear-shaped when Mery was diagnosed. That’s when I cried, that really hurt because our boys were going to be orphans.”
He continued: “One cancer is all right, but when it strikes twice, the exact same type and terminal – it’s very hard.”
Mery is recuperating in hospital following an operation to insert a steel rod to stabilise her leg. Graham has gone back to work part-time as a civil engineer.
The couple are determined to maintain an element of stability for their two boys and have resolved to fight the condition for as long as they can. Arrangements have been made for their children to be adopted by a family friend when they pass away.
Graham and Mery, who have vowed to be "overcomers" for the sake of their children, said they had been overwhelmed by the support they have received from their friends, church and their sons' school.
The couple's fundraising page can be viewed on their Givealittle page.
