Frank And Wilma, New Zealand Couple, Thousands In Debt After Spending On Bucket List After Cancer Misdiagnosis

Couple Is Thousands In Debt After Spending On Bucket List Because Of Cancer Misdiagnosis

A New Zealand man began crossing things off his bucket list after he was diagnosed with cancer and given just two months to live -- only to be told later that he actually didn't have cancer.

And now, a big problem: He and his wife are $80,000 in debt from trying to accomplish all the things on the bucket list -- like traveling to Australia and Fiji.

The New Zealand Herald reports on the story of a couple, Frank and Wilma (who declined to give their last names), who sold their house and gave away many of their belongings (including tools and a quad bike) after Frank received news that he had a recurrence of cancer.

Frank even picked back up his unhealthy habits, like smoking, that he'd initially quit after his first bout of cancer, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Earlier this month, another cancer misdiagnosis led to a woman losing her jaw. The 63-year-old New Zealand woman actually only had swelling because of a tooth implant, but because of a tissue sample mix-up, she was instead told she had mouth cancer.

"I can't for the life of me understand how you can get tissue samples mixed up," Dr. Iain Wilson, the oral surgeon who sent her biopsy to the lab, told the Herald on Sunday. "I am astonished and horrified by these lab mix-ups."

Similarly, a 59-year-old man from Australia sued after he was misdiagnosed with stomach cancer. He had 80 percent of his stomach removed because of his supposed diagnosis.

Before You Go

Popular in the Community

Close

HuffPost Shopping’s Best Finds

MORE IN LIFE