KEY POINTS:
After receiving what he said was "the best news ever" from the Herald, cancer sufferer Roderick Catuday now wants to give the money he has received in donations to the Cancer Society to help others in the same situation as himself.
"I now know how stressful and difficult it is for people who don't have enough money to treat their illnesses, so I hope the money that people have given me will instead be used to help others like me," he said.
On Wednesday, the Herald broke the news to Mr Catuday, an immigrant from the Philippines, that he had been granted a two-year work permit - which meant he could get public funding for the vital treatment he needed for his leukaemia.
"My wife Emelita was wondering why my children and I were smiling when she got home from work last night, but when she eventually heard the news, she just couldn't stop crying tears of joy."
He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia while waiting for his permit to be approved from Immigration New Zealand, and his application was rejected when the authorities found out about his illness.
Although donations have poured in since the Weekend Herald reported his plight, the $40,000 he received was still way under the $150,000 deposit Auckland City Hospital needed to start chemotherapy treatment on him.
Besides New Zealand and Australian citizens and residents, only those with at least a two-year work permit could get access to public health funding
Mr Catuday said he was in the process of making appointments to meet doctors at the hospital to discuss starting treatment and also to find out if it was fully funded publicly.
"All the excess money will be given to charity," he said.
Although Mr Catuday said he had many people to thank, as a Christian, God took top priority.
Last night, close family and friends gathered at Mr Catuday's Henderson home for an evening of prayer in thanksgiving, followed by a celebratory dinner.
