A British man living on Vancouver Island who found himself facing a massive medical bill despite being married to a Canadian woman has died.

Eric Scanlan, 69, was a British citizen living outside of Victoria. He was diagnosed with cancer three years ago.

He returned to the UK for the bulk of his treatment but then returned home to Saanich with his Canadian wife, Lynn, only to see his condition worsen again last year.

He was taken to a B.C. hospital but didn’t have medical coverage so he and Lynn were handed a bill of more than $120,000, which they said they had no way to pay.

The couple’s story has been picked up by local media, with some online commenters accusing them of looking for free handouts from taxpayers. Lynn says that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“People are under the impression that we have no money. That’s not the case,” she said. “I just wanted foreigners to be aware, be alert that when you come into our country this is how they’re going to treat you because you’re not Canadian.”

Scanlan died Tuesday. The hospital bill has yet to be resolved.

With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Ed Watson