Fred Smith visited Abu Dhabi in late 2013 and was helping his daughter move house when he started having trouble breathing.
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He brushed it aside, thinking a difference in climate was the cause of the problem.
Upon returning to Australia, Mr Smith and his wife travelled to Queensland from their home in Darlington Point.
They were contemplating moving there, but the breathing problems continued.
Early one morning, Mr Smith was taken to hospital where he diagnosed with a collapsed lung.
He had two litres of fluid removed from around the lung.
An exploratory procedure found a mass which was found to be mesothelioma, a cancer that is most commonly caused by exposure to asbestos.
The grandfather was given five to 11 months to live in late February 2013.
“It knocked my wife and I back a bit,” Mr Smith said.
“They said ‘this is what you've got, there's no cure and there's no treatment’.
“The 11 months would have put it around Christmas time, so four months on and I'm still going.”
Despite defying the odds, Mr Smith’s breathing hasn't improved since the initial diagnosis.
He constantly feels a deep pain on his right side that stems from the mass.
The Darlington Point man often gets told that he looks great.
“If only I was as good on the inside that I am on the outside,” he said.
“There's nothing wrong with the brain, there's nothing wrong with the arms or the legs. It's just the right side of the body is in constant pain and I'll tell you it's unbearable pain.
“You’re looking for painkillers all the time to beat it.
“Some of them cover it for a little while but it comes back all the time.”
Mr Smith worked with his father as a builder for four years where it is thought he inhaled asbestos fibres that led to the mesothelioma.
He hopes that by him speaking out, it will bring more awareness to the dangers of asbestos.
“We're all to lax on it, we all think, 'yeah, I'm alright jack',” Mr Smith said.
“People don’t realise just one asbestos fibre coming off these sheets is all it takes.
“Whilst cement sheet is quiet and you don't touch it, it's right.
“But as soon as you start rubbing over it and you see the dark colours in the cement, that's the asbestos.”
Mr Smith has an amazing support group of family and friends and keeps a never give up attitude.
“The wife takes care of me and my daughter lives around here and she takes care of me,” he said.
“I'm lucky I've got people around.
“My mate and his wife are here from Perth. I’ve known him since the army days and we’ve been pretty close since.
“Sometimes life throws you a curve-ball and there’s nothing I can do about it now. I'll try and live the best I can."