This woman's devastating choice: Save her own life or become a mum.

Elizabeth knew that if she didn’t get cancer treatment, she might die. But if she did get treatment, she would never be a mother.

Elizabeth Joice was young and in love in September of 2010 when she was told that what she thought was a herniated disc was actually a malignant tumour. She’d need to start immediate treatment to stop the cancer from spreading.

She’d been dating Max for two years when she received the diagnosis. Elizabeth sat him down and told him the news. He listened, walked straight to the kitchen, made a ring out of tin foil, walked back to the bedroom and proposed to her. They married a month later and settled in New York.

She'd been cancer-free for three years but still longed for a child.

Then a miracle happened. Elizabeth fell pregnant. “I totally blew a gasket,” Max told the New York Post. “They said there was no chance this was happening and here it was happening.”

A month later they received a huge blow. The cancer was back. Elizabeth was advised to terminate the pregnancy and begin immediate treatment.

She refused.

“Having a kid was one of the most important things in the world to her,” Max told The Post. “She said, ‘If we terminate the pregnancy and it turns out I can’t have a baby, I’ll be devastated. She knew this might be her only chance.”

Doctors were able to remove the tumour but were unable to give Elizabeth a MRI which would allow them to see if and where the cancer had spread. Baby Lily was due on March 4 but was delivered in January so Elizabeth could undergo urgent cancer treatment. Their baby girl was in perfect health.

An MRI was ordered and it was found that the cancer had spread to her right lung, heart and abdomen. Elizabeth's health quickly deteriorated. “We said our goodbyes,” Max said. “It was like something out of a movie. We sat there and cried. We tried to tell stories, talk about all the great things.”

“Liz came home five days after Lily was born. That one night at home was all we had.”

Elizabeth died on March 9 in her hospital bed with Max by her side, having fulfilled her wish to become a mum. Now Max is facing life as a single dad. He finds strength in memories of his wife and his beautiful daughter. “Liz’s magic rubbed off on Lily,” Max said. “She’s beautiful and remarkable. It provides me with the strength to get through this.”

“Liz had this way about her,” Max said. “She had this positive energy that made you want to be the best version of yourself. She was intolerant of self-pity.”

Now friends are trying to help raise funds for Max and Lily. They have set a goal of $50,000 and so far have raised around $12,000.

To make a contribution click here.

The family has released these beautiful photos of Elizabeth and Max and their journey to parenthood:

Can you relate to the choice that Elizabeth made? Do you think most women would do the same?