Over $1 million in donations raised for the Piper family

Australians have donated more than $1 million to help a struggling Sydney family with a blind dad and mother fighting terminal stomach cancer.

The Piper family’s story was aired on A Current Affair less than a month ago, and in that time the Australian public has come together to help ease the family’s financial burden in a big way.

“It doesn't even feel real, it's like a dream,” Ms Piper told A Current Affair.

“It's nice to think I've got something to look forward to, some joy, instead of being in pain and not feeling well. I have something else to focus on.”

Matt and Alex Piper met as teenagers and began dating 21 years ago, but just two years into their marriage, Matt lost his sight in both eyes and was declared 100 percent legally blind. He then suffered nerve damage in his hands, making him unable to continue work as a masseuse.

In 2010, the family from the northern beaches was dealt another heavy blow when Ms Piper, now 41, was diagnosed with breast cancer. A year later, the cancer was picked up in Ms Piper’s bones, and has now spread to her stomach.

The mother-of-three, Charley, 13, Honey, 10, and Willow, 5, is the family’s main breadwinner because of her husband’s disability, but having been diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer, Ms Piper has been forced to stop working.

With medical bills piling up and a big mortgage, family members decided to set up a MyCause and Facebook page asking the public for help.

The response has been phenomenal, going well beyond the initial goal of $250,000.

Family member Andrew Fraser has been coordinating the website, phone and cheque donations to the Piper family.

“At the end of each month MyCause puts the money straight into Alex's account and of course we have the offline donations, the cheques from your viewers direct to Alex and they're deposited straight into her account and we upload them into the MyCause total,” Mr Fraser told A Current Affair.

The family is more than grateful.

“We're just one small story, everyone has a story, we're just one of them, and we are just so appreciative of everything, the generosity and the money that is there to further Alex's future in life and hope it's going to be worthwhile,” Mr Piper said.

And all the support has since spurred Mr Piper to try his luck back in the work force.

“I thought it's a good opportunity now to put myself out there and I'm looking for a job,” My Piper said.

But he's not yet sure what type of job he would be taking on.

“That's a very good question, because it is hard, it is I guess something on computers since I'm blind, that's the way inclined for me but I'll give anything a go.”