Peter Jellie isn't around to see his wife celebrated as Australia's 2017 Local Hero for making his dying wish come true.
But she knows he'd be proud.
"He'd be really cross that he wasn't here, he would love it," says Vicki Jellie.
"He'd be proud of our family and proud of his community."
Mr Jellie died of oesophageal cancer in 2008.
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Before he died, he was having to travel three-and-a-half hours from his home in Warrnambool, on Victoria's southwest coast, to Melbourne for radiotherapy treatment.
Statistics showed that for every 100km a person lived from a treatment facility, there was a six per cent less chance of survival - that meant an 18-24 per cent chance for Peter.
"It was his dream for us to have that treatment locally," Ms Jellie said.
"So after he passed away, that's what we set forth to do."
The day after Peter died, Ms Jellie opened his briefcase to find his plans to raise funds for radiotherapy services in the region.
Two days before he was buried, she started Peter's Project, a group dedicated to getting better cancer services.
Eight years later, she made his dream come true, raising $30 million from the community and government to open the South West Regional Cancer Centre in Warrnambool.
"It's a big thing, it's fabulous - people travel three and four and five hours and have to stay away from their homes, we were away for 10 weeks," she said.
"People sometimes in our region, actually a third of them, chose not to have the treatment because they didn't want to leave their families or their farms being in a rural-regional area."
Accepting her award from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in the Great Hall of Parliament House on Wednesday night, Ms Jellie said it belonged collectively to the community of southwest Victoria.
"Together, we've proven that nothing's impossible and have worked determinedly to ensure cancer patients in our region have been given the absolute best access to cancer treatment, second to none anywhere in Australia."
"No matter where we live in this great country, in a tiny country town or in a city, don't be afraid to step forward and talk about what you believe in and what your dream is."
