A terminally ill father who flew his family to Singapore to fulfill his five-year-old daughter's wish to swim with dolphins, ended in disaster after his illness took a turn for the worse leaving the family stranded in a Bali hospital.

Duncan Turner, 46, suffered a serious head injury from a fall last year, leaving him paralysed and facing months of repeated strokes and seizures learning to walk and talk again.

Unsure how long Duncan had to live and unable to find a dolphin-swimming operator in Australia able to accommodate the family, they booked a trip to Singapore.

Duncan Turner, 46, (right) flew his family to Singapore to fulfill his daughter's (left) wish to swim with dolphins, but has been left stranded in a Bali hospital due to his terminal illness

As the family headed home on a flight with a stopover in Bali, Duncan became unwell, losing consciousness and needing oxygen and an ambulance to hospital

His daughter Amelie, who was born premature at just 27 weeks and weighing 606 grams, is still extremely small for her age and was not tall enough to qualify for most Australian dolphin swimming experiences.

Duncan's pre-existing health conditions meant he didn't qualify for travel insurance but the couple thought the risk of travelling for five days in Singapore without it would be worth the life-time of memories created.

But during the bucket-list trip Duncan fell and badly injured his knee, confining him to a wheel chair.

As the family headed home on a flight with a stopover in Bali, Duncan became unwell, losing consciousness and needing oxygen and an ambulance to hospital.

The terminally ill father was taken by ambulance to a Bali emergency department and admitted to hospital for life-saving blood transfusions

'The family were just 30 minutes from their transit destination of Bali when Duncan took a severe turn and airline staff insisted he would not be fit to board their final leg flight to Perth,' Lynette, a family friend wrote on a GoFundMe page set up for the family.

'He was taken by ambulance to a Bali emergency department and admitted to hospital for life-saving blood transfusions,' she explained.

Duncan's partner Michelle went to the Australian Consulate for assistance, but they were unable to help with costs.

After three days in hospital at a cost of $2,470 a day and additional emergency costs of $1,300, the family were unable to continue to pay for the expensive hospital bills.

Duncan's pre-existing health conditions meant he didn't qualify for travel insurance but the couple thought the risk would be worth the life-time of memories created

Against medical advice, Duncan discharged himself from hospital and is now waiting out his recovery in Bali accommodation.

Amelie has returned to school in Perth after her grandmother flew her back while her parents wait to be well enough to travel home.

Medical bills now exceed ten thousand dollars and additional treatment or readmission to hospital is still a possibility.

The couple said they realised they took the risk of travelling without insurance cover but 'it was Duncan's wish,' Michelle told WA Today.

'He wanted Amelie to have these special memories. We decided to go. We thought it would be fine.'