THE first thing Steve Duggan noticed about his future wife Mel was her bright smile.
The year was 1994 and they were both studying for an accountancy diploma at Metford TAFE.
"She's just got that smile, she's so easy going," Mr Duggan said. "She tells it how it is and I love that.
"We just clicked - she's just a beautiful person.
"The first 12 months we spent a lot of time together doing things and we became best friends."
Mr Duggan said his wife has retained her positivity as she fights metastatic breast cancer. She is 44.
"She's never lost hope at any stage, even now, and that's something you cling to," he said.
"She's the sort of person who says 'These are the cards we've been dealt, we need to do the best we can'.
"She's been so strong and courageous and her strength has helped us. She's never once complained or said 'Why me?' Never."
Instead, Mrs Duggan has been considering how to help others.
She asked Mr Duggan on June 28 if he had considered participating in Dry July, which he did in 2018.
"She said 'I think it's a great opportunity for us and you to help others', that's who she is," he said.
"If we can help one person in a situation like ours and they get some comfort from these support networks, that's a good thing."
He and the couple's daughter Madeline have since raised more than $14,000 for the Calvary Mater.
"Hopefully this will enable them to get some sort of equipment and services they can provide to someone else going in there on their bad day."
Mrs Duggan found a lump in her left breast in May 2015.
She had surgery to remove it and clear her lymph nodes and had chemotherapy and radiation for a "gruelling" six months.
She received the all-clear in February 2016 and the family travelled to Las Vegas, Hawaii, around Australia and to Los Angeles.
Mrs Duggan found out last October the cancer had returned and spread to her bones and brain.
"She's had three lots of treatment - different things - and they all unfortunately haven't worked," he said.
"It just appears the particular cancer spreading in her body is chemo resistant and immunotherapy resistant.
"A couple of weeks ago we decided no more treatment - it's more about quality of life with family rather than trying things that evidence suggested weren't going to work."
Mr Duggan said the family was on a "rollercoaster of emotion - one minute you're laughing, the next minute you're crying".
"There's no words that can describe it, watching someone you love so dearly and deeply go through that," he said.
"I just want to stop time but I can't...and I feel helpless that I can't."
He said they'd been buoyed by family and friends who have visited, called, texted and offered help.
"It makes her feel very loved - and she is - and that's good."
