Vicki Letele isn't the only person who's suffered because there's a lack of medical care in New Zealand's prisons, and her brother wants New Zealand to know.
Letele, 36, was jailed in March on mortgage fraud offences. But she soon fell incredibly sick - it turned out to be terminal cancer, but prison staff didn't think it was serious at first.
"She was sick for maybe six or seven weeks before she was sent to hospital," her brother David Letele told The AM Show on Monday.
Instead of getting her proper treatment and a diagnosis, she was told to rest her mattress against a wall.
"She was spewing up faeces, and was told to sleep upright. We're not in a third world country, and even in a third world country you shouldn't be treated that way."
She was denied parole in October, and Mr Letele says he didn't think she'd last another month. But in November, Corrections recommended her release on compassionate grounds, and the Parole Board accepted.
Six months later Ms Letele is still alive - though the cancer has spread and she's in a lot of pain.
"They don't have a doctor inside," says Mr Letele. "They've got… maybe nurses. What Vicki said to me yesterday was the nurse would speak to you, get your symptoms, fill out some paperwork and contact a doctor. It's like googling what the symptoms are."
He's not calling for all sick prisoners to get release - just that those who are unwell get proper, prompt treatment.
"What happened to her was an absolute disgrace - it needs to be changed."
Whether a formal complaint is laid is up to his sister, he says. But he's not convinced anything will change.
"It just falls on deaf ears with these guys. You need people in power to take note. I don't know what we're going to do. Sometimes you complain until the cows come home, but nothing happens."
Mr Letele, a boxer, has a large social media following, which he levered to raise support for his sister. Not every prisoner has a celebrity brother however.
"She's not the only one going through this," he says.
"She wants to raise awareness that what happened in there to her was wrong, but it's not an isolated incident."
Newshub.
