Naomi Phillips, 42, was diagnosed with liver cancer just six weeks ago. 

Her husband Mark, a Hamilton police sergeant, said they thought she was in remission from ocular melanoma (eye cancer) when they were hit with the devastating news. 

“We thought we had dealt with the eye cancer but it obviously came back and has affected her liver and bones,” he said. 

“I guess the reality has settled in now but it took a while. Now we are just getting on day-by-day.” 

Mrs Phillips is incompatible with a trial treatment that could prolong her life and is now undergoing autoimmune therapy.

“It’s all they can offer at this point because there’s no cure,” she said. 

“It’s been hard for the reality to set in. Especially for the kids, because I don’t physically look ill, so I think it’s a bit hard for them to understand.” 

The Phillips’ are the parents of Abbey, 16, Riley, 13, and six-year-old twins Matilda and Hamish. 

Mrs Phillips said once she came to terms with her diagnosis, she only had one option – to stay positive. 

“There is no point doing anything but living in the now and making the most of the time that I have with Mark and the kids,” she said. 

“I’m a pretty positive person and once I got a hold of what we were dealing with, I knew it was the only option.”

The Hamilton community have dug deep into their pockets to ensure Mrs Phillips can spend as much time as possible with her family. 

About $50,000 has been raised in the past month. 

Sergeant Phillips said money had been raised through barbecues, raffle tickets, garage sales and an online fundraiser set up by his sister Alison. 

”My sister came to see Naomi after the diagnosis and after a pretty upsetting afternoon, she wondered what she could do to help,” he said.

“She went away and decided she didn’t want Naomi to have the pressure of having to work, so she decided to raise some money and the whole community just jumped on board so quickly.

“Hamilton is such an incredibly community, so in a way it’s not really surprising. There’s always someone raising money for something . 

“We aren’t usually on the receiving end, so it has been quite hard to stick the hand out and accept such generosity, but we are so grateful.” 

Sergeant Phillips said the community had helped alleviate a lot of financial pressure.

“It means we can get out there and make some memories while Naomi is still fit and well,” he said.

“That’s our primary focus – to spend every second we can as a family.” 

On Saturday Hamilton police will host a duck derby to raise funds for the Phillips family. 

Hundreds of individually numbered rubber ducks will be released into the Hamilton Lake at 4pm. They will drift with the current and the first duck to the end will win a $2000 Harvey Norman voucher. 

Sergeant Phillips said he couldn’t thank the community enough for their support. 

“It’s pretty hard to show how grateful you are to everyone at once,” he said. 

“But we would like to thank everyone that has offered a donation or words of encouragement and support.

“We know a lot of people don't really know what to say and they tell us that they just wish they could take it away, and we just want them to know that we do really appreciate that.”

You can find out more information on the Loving Naomi fundraiser here. 

Or you can donate here. 

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.