Hours after a blissfully sweet evening sharing ice cream with his love, Harley Bragge's outlook turned shockingly sour. What he thought was a backache turned into a blinding pain that forced him off a train in Chiltern. He had been heading to Melbourne, but instead found himself on the way to Albury Hospital. Before he knew he had a terminal cancer diagnosis. Mr Bragge's extreme discomfort was the result of severe blood clots directly linked to terminal papillary renal cell carcinoma, a cancer of the kidney. "When I was on the train, I started to have a panic attack because the pain was so bad," he said. "I couldn't get comfortable, and it got worse, so I laid down in the foot well where it was cool, my heart rate shot through the roof, and everything became quieter." The 24-year-old said if it wasn't for his girlfriend, Charlotte Barberis, making the call to get off the train in Chiltern, "I don't think I would have made it at all". "Thank god for her," he said. Mr Bragge went to the doctor several weeks before, but the doctor suspected it was anemia and told him further testing wouldn't be needed. He said it was a stark reminder that life could be taken from you at any given time. A GoFundMe page has been set up to support medical costs, something the Albury man no longer has to think about. "Forty minutes after the ambulance rocked up, they thought it was just back pain, but after they saw me, they said it was very different, very wrong - and they leap straight into action. Mr Bragge said they asked many questions, which he thought was relatively obscure. "Once we reached the hospital, I was rushed straight to ICU for a scan," he said. "I remember sitting there with cables all over me from top to bottom, with different needles in me. "All the doctors and nurses were all talking about it at my door, trying to figure out what next they can do." "They told me they found a lot of blood clots. "They said they were going to fly me to The Alfred in Melbourne, and then they gave me a blood clot buster, but only half the dose." Ms Barberis said it all happened so quickly, "doctors were rushing everywhere". "If they gave him a full dose, it would cause him to haemorrhage," she said. "Harley was in a very dire situation." Ms Barberis said when they received the news, it was overwhelming. "The doctor just laid a whole bunch of bombs on us at the same time, just one after another after another," she said. "I broke down in tears. "He said Harley could die before he even got to Melbourne. "Never in a million years did we think this would happen." Mr Bragge, a complex disability support worker, admits he has accepted the outcome but hoped he could make the most of his time left. Growing up, he said he was "pretty normal". "I've never been anything abnormal or strange to make me think, like, 'Oh, it would have sprung from this'," he said. He said he was active and healthy "in every normal way you can think a young guy would be". "I barely knew what was going on in hospital, but I just tried to keep calm," he said. Ms Barberis said while the doctors were trying to save Harley's life, he was still "cracking jokes". Mr Bragge said he was piecing together just how intense the news was. The next day, he had open-heart surgery to remove clots in his main artery from the heart to the lung, as well as other clots in his heart. On October 18 he was told of the malignant tumours on both of his kidneys, his liver and upper abdomen. Surgery saved his life, but he will be on blood thinners to dissolve the clots that are constantly forming for the rest of his life, plus regular immunotherapy and targeted tablets administered daily. The oncologist advised Mr Bragge that his life expectancy for this type of cancer was 12-18 months. "When we heard the news, I tried to stay strong for my family," he said. "I was trying to keep calm. "Poor Charlotte was at wit's end, especially after having bombs and bombs dropped in front of her." Ms Barberis said she held hope that "anything could happen". "I don't think I've ever prayed so hard in my whole life," she said. "I'm trying not to think about it. "Harley has always been the kind of person who will put his hand up if someone needs help with anything or if something needs doing, he will do it. "He has a super positive can-do kind of energy, which he has kept the whole way through." Mr Bragge said what was pushing him to remain positive was his "huge, loving family, they're helping me get through". "A lot of the blokes from work have been sending me money each fortnight out of their pay to go towards the medication and to ease my mind," he said. When asked how he wanted to live out the rest of his life, he told The Border Mail "with more urgency rather than just sit around". "We would like to have children, and I know my partner would like to travel to Italy," he said. "The dream would be to start a new life." He said if there were a message in any of this, it would be "quit being so tough". "Find a doctor who will listen to you, and if they don't, get a second opinion or a third," he said. "And not put you in a box according to your age." Mr Bragge said any money raised would go towards nothing but medical expenses. "From Chiltern to Albury Base cost me more than $2000, but because of how much support I've had and how many people have given us donations, I didn't blink - it was paid for well before I got the invoice," he said. "If people can't donate, that's okay; share the page or go donate blood. "I used probably six bags of blood within two weeks, so it takes a little part to play to roll up your sleeves and help." Despite his predicament, he said there was no point in "freaking out about the news". "It doesn't help," he said. "A moment spent in worry or a moment spent in anger is a moment lost, and you gain nothing from it. "Not to say that you should be lazy and not think of these things, but the approach is as good as the execution." For more information on how to donate blood visit lifeblood or to donate visit gofundme.com/f/support-harley-fight-for-his-life-against-cancer. To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
