Before Rachael Thorpe moved to Canberra, she was told by many the city was unfriendly and cliquey. Through the actions of friends and complete strangers just as many people proved those stereotypes wrong.
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After being admitted to hospital two months ago with meningitis, the Florey resident received further bad news during her hospital visit.
"While they were treating me they discovered a tumour on my brain and another on my spinal cord. It was a little unexpected to say the least," Ms Thorpe said.
"Recovering from meningitis takes another six to 12 months, and a spinal cord tumour is not an easy thing to treat, so finding someone to treat it has been a bit of a battle."
In the grim news of the diagnosis was a silver lining of good news, after Ms Thorpe's partner of more than three years John proposed while she was in hospital.
"It was very romantic, especially with all of the medical machines beeping in the background," Ms Thorpe said.
"We decided to have a small wedding at home in the backyard in September with just the family."
However, with John's work as a plumber and helping to look after his partner while she recovers, the backyard was in no state to host a wedding.
Enter a small army of volunteers, who last weekend helped give the backyard a makeover in preparation for the big day.
Members of the Florey Neighbourhood Watch and the Florey Residents' Association - groups Ms Thorpe is a part of - and people from John's work at Spotless came together to clear trees and weeds and help to plant new bulbs for the wedding.
Ms Thorpe said she was blown away by the kindness of the group, some of who she had never met before.
"I just started crying when they showed up and we were completely and utterly overwhelmed," she said.
"It was probably one of the best days we've had for a long time and it made the biggest difference and caused a big shift."
Florey Neighbourhood Watch member Sharon Leigh-Hazell was one of the people being the small army of volunteers who helped give up their weekend to help out.
She said after hearing about the situation the family was facing, many people were more than willing to pitch in.
"We spread the word round to all the members of the neighbourhood watch," Ms Leigh-Hazell said.
"Some people didn't even know Rachael and they showed up."
After thanking people for their help on the Canberra Notice Board Facebook page, Ms Thorpe said she was inundated with further offers for help after it got more than 2000 likes.
Among the offers were wedding cakes, celebrants and photography. However, most of the services for the wedding had already been booked.
Ms Thorpe said as a result of the offers, she started up a volunteer organisation called One Day A Year, helping people provide services to people in need.
She said every time she looked at the backyard she would think of the large amount of support her family received.
"It reminds us that we are cared about and that we aren't going through this alone, and the garden is tangible proof of that," she said.
