Shona Meiklejohn was living her dream life on Australia’s Gold Coast when a lump she was told was a cyst turned out to be Stage 4 cancer – and now her Australian boyfriend George is desperately waiting for a visa to be by her side
Shona is undergoing treatment in Hull for Stage 4 cancer(Image: Submitted)
A couple on opposite sides of the world are fighting to be reunited as a cancer diagnosis tore their dreams of building a life together in Australia apart. Shona Meiklejohn is back in the UK and undergoing treatment in Hull for Stage 4 cancer after finding a lump in her breast earlier this year.
The 25-year-old returned to the UK for a wedding – but was diagnosed with cancer and has been unable to return to Australia. Her Australian boyfriend, George Boughton, is now fighting to get to the UK to be with her.
Shona moved to the Gold Coast in August 2025 and was thriving in her role as a restaurant manager. Just a month after moving, she met George, who is originally from Tasmania but was living on the Gold Coast.
The pair met online and quickly became a couple, spending an idyllic summer together. They had moved in together after three months and planned to move to Tasmania in the future.
But Shona’s devastating diagnosis means she is staying put in Driffield while she undergoes hormone therapy for cancer that has now spread to her lymph nodes, bones, chest and neck. George, 28, said: “We met online and for our first date she came round for some beers because my footy team was playing.
“It was really nice to meet her even if it wasn’t the ideal first date! Then we had a sunset picnic and it became a very fast moving relationship. We went from not knowing each other and within three months we were living together. She had just moved there from England on her one year visa, and I was lucky enough to meet her.
“She was living with a couple of girls and then she ended up moving in with me. We were practically living together anyway, just paying two lots of rent. We had planned to move back to Hobart, Tasmania, where I’m from. She came for Christmas to spend it with my family, which she loved and they all loved her. We knew she had to go back to England, which was planned, as she was going back for a hen and a wedding. It was going to be a month or two without seeing her. She left on April 27 this year and I haven’t seen her since then.”
Not long before Shona headed back to the UK, she found a lump in her breast. Medical staff on the Gold Coast told her it was a cyst. George made her promise to get it looked at while she was home in Driffield. The lump was growing rapidly.
When she got home, Shona had biopsies and scans, which revealed the tumour in her breast was malignant. The cancer was found to have spread to her lymph nodes, chest and neck, and was growing. A spot was also found on Shona’s spine, meaning it had gone to her bones. George said: “That’s why it’s classified as Stage 4, it’s not a curable cancer. Which was the worst news we could’ve had really. The only good thing is it hadn’t spread to her vital organs.”
Because the cancer is oestrogen positive, Shona’s treatment involves hormone therapy. She has been given drugs which medically induce menopause in hope that the lack of oestrogen in her body will stop the cancer growing. George is hoping to get out to England in time for Shona’s 26th birthday on August 14. He is in the process of applying for a work visa, and is ready to leave at a moment’s notice once it is approved.
“The only reason I’m not there yet is because I’m still in the process of getting a working visa, because I still will work. She won’t be able to work for six to 12 months. Unfortunately, there are lots of hoops to get through.
“In my case it’s very serious and unfortunately the immigration people are tough to crack, which has been extremely frustrating. If she were to turn for the worse, it would be very frustrating. I want to be there for when it’s at its worst. I’m hoping the visa will come through in the next couple of weeks, and I’ll go for a next day flight.
“She’s an amazing woman and it’s heartbreaking not being there, but she has a lovely sister, lovely mum and a lovely best friend. I just want to be there to support her, to take her to her appointments. I just want to be there for her.”
The couple had hopes of settling in Tasmania before Shona received the life-threatening diagnosis. A work visa under the UK’s Youth Mobility Scheme would allow George two years in the country. It is a popular programme with Australians wanting an overseas experience in the UK.
“She’s always loved the thought of Australia, but didn’t like the Gold Coast too much,” George said. “I was ready to leave as well. When she went to Hobart she fell in love with it and with my family. She was pretty ready to move there. She wasn’t sure how she’d feel when she got back to the UK, but she quickly realised she was 100% sure she wanted to come back to Australia. I would love to meet her family, which I’ll get to do. But better circumstances would be ideal.”
George’s grandparents met under eerily similar circumstances. His grandmother, who was English, arrived in Australia as a 25-year-old and quickly met George’s grandfather, who was 28 and Australian. George says he can’t wait to be reunited with his “positive” and “happy” girlfriend, who is continuing to work at her waitressing job in the early stages of her treatment.
“Shona is overly friendly,” he said. “She has a smile that lights up the room, she’s extremely happy, always laughing. She draws people in and is very confident and extroverted. She makes everyone very happy around her, no one more than me. She’s very positive, always looking out for others. I’m telling her just look after yourself, I can worry about other people. She’s always looking out for others even in the worst of her times.”
The couple are raising money via Go Fund Me in a bid to fund alternative treatment methods and to make as many memories as they can. George said: “As people have donated they’ve said clearly they don’t want me working too much. If she doesn’t get to see her 30s, I’m going to hate the fact I was working too much when we could’ve been making memories. That’s my aim and that’s my goal. People are just being so generous.
“Being 25 and having this is so rare, so exposing the story would be amazing. If we can get people getting checked in their 20s and if it saves one person’s life, it’s worth it. She’s just a very unlucky person with this diagnosis, but if we could help people out in the process that would be amazing.”
To donate to Shona’s Go Fund Me page, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-shonas-fight-against-stage-4-breast-cancer
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