A terminally ill man has been told that he must pay a steep total of £3,000 for holiday insurance if he wants to go on a honeymoon with his partner.
Lee Corker, 40, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in December 2017 and fought hard to fight the terrible disease before being told in August 2020 that it had spread and was terminal.
Medics told Lee that he had what is known as 'secondary cancer' - which is when the original cancerous tumours spread to a different area of the body - and it had appeared in Lee's neck, reports Yorkshire Live.
Doctors also had to devastatingly break the news that Lee would only have between two to five years left to live.
Lee, who lives in Sheffield with his fiancé Kirsty Wragg, 33, and their two young sons had been set to get married and jet off on his honeymoon last year but this was cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
And now, the couple has been dealt a fresh blow that they may not be able to afford their new honeymoon plans - as Lee's diagnosis means that they have been hit with a £3,000 holiday insurance cost.
Their friend Carina Robinson, 37, spoke to South Yorkshire Live: "Their wedding should have been on July 10 last year and they should have gone on their honeymoon then too, when Lee was well, but due to Covid - like a lot of couples - they had it all postponed.
"What has been really difficult is that the holiday company still want to take 70 per cent of the holiday if they cancel it and under the circumstances, you'd think they would at least just take the deposit or something but that's why they have to have the insurance because if they don't have the insurance they lose everything."
Carina said that, for her and her husband, they would expect to pay around £12 each for holiday insurance - but Lee's has shot up to a staggering £3,000 due to his terminal diagnosis and the couple simply cannot afford it.
To help her friends, Carina decided to set up an online fundraiser so that she could try and help them raise the cash that they need to enjoy the honeymoon of their dreams.
"It was the only thing I could think of that I thought might take the pressure off the family", Carina said, "we're not people that take for nothing, Lee and Kirsty have asked for nothing during the cancer battles."
Carina, who has known the couple for five-and-a-half years, said that her best pal Kirsty is the "strongest person" that she has ever met.
She said: "She's struggling a little at the moment but that girl has been the strongest person I've ever met. For the last three years she's just got on with it.
"She came back from Weston Park last week where they'd been told that Lee's cancer had spread to his liver and his lungs and I texted her but didn't get a reply, so I rang her later in the evening and she said she was sorry but that she'd had to sort out the boys' tea and everything - she's still a mum."
And Kirsty is still in wedding-planning mode, as she and Lee are due to be tying the knot in just 24 days time.
Carina said: "We're just waiting to hear if Lee can be discharged from the hospital for the wedding, he was admitted last week and it's a day-to-day thing really, they're hoping to start his chemo this week and that might perk him up enough to come out.
"He's feeling really low at the moment, he's only just turned 40 and, at that age, you expect to still be having a life and provide for your family, and he can't do any of those things."
The couple, who have been together for 15 years, have apparently been "overwhelmed" at the money that has already been raised to help them go on their honeymoon - with £1,345 raised already.
If you would like to donate to Lee's fundraiser, you can do so here.
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