Couple who found love in chemotherapy raise funds for final trip
Ainslie Plumb, 22, and Joe Fan, 29, found love in an unexpected place, at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
The couple met in 2022 while they were both undergoing leukaemia treatment.
“We met at an event for young people with cancer and became friends following that,” Plumb told 7News.
“(We) would hang out during our hospital stays, I asked him out in October 2022 and (we) have been together ever since.”
While Plumb successfully entered remission, last October, Fan was told that he was now terminal, as doctors had run out of options to treat his Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
With only months left to live, Fan, who has actively given back to the hospital and cancer community by playing his violin for patients and staff and worked with the Queensland Youth Cancer Service, has one final wish - to travel.
The couple have set a GoFundMe, to help raise funds which cover flights, accommodation and specialised travel insurance, for Fan's final trip.
“I go through my cancer treatments and observe the toll that takes on my physical and mental wellbeing,” Fan said.
“The end of a trip can hopefully mark the start of another — and I have held onto hope, looked forward and dreamed for one more trip, more time, one more experience with that someone I love.”
Their first destination will be Taiwan and Hong Kong, where Fan's parents are from and where he spent a majority of his childhood.
They also intend to travel to New Zealand and Western Australia to swim with whale sharks at Ningaloo in the state’s north.
“We’re aiming at going at the end of February to give us time to co-ordinate with his doctors around his appointments and infusions, which are all booked in advance,” Plumb said.
“We recently reached 75 per cent on the fundraiser and are hoping to hit 100 per cent perhaps by the end of January.”
As of today, the couple have successfully raised over $21,000 from their $20,000 goal, and have thanked everyone in their community and strangers for their support.
“Truly, words do not suffice,” the couple said.
Images: 7News