The sun filters through the kitchen window, capturing the furtive twinkle in the eyes of Nigel Cauchi and his wife Sarah that exposes the intimate bond this young couple share.

In the past 18 months the two have been joined at the hip, as Mr Cauchi, 28, battled the two-year life sentence that hung over his head after he developed kidney cancer.

"I had no intention of going anywhere - I was planning to remain on this planet," he said, with a quiet smile that revealed his inner resilience.

Squeezing his wife's hand, Mr Cauchi decided to share his story to let others know there is hope out there and everybody should seek a second opinion.

It all started on November 2, 2007, the day he turned 27. Feeling a bit bloated and experiencing a sharp pain on his left side, he decided to go to hospital. Mater Dei Hospital had opened just weeks earlier, so he was not particularly miffed to be there on his birthday - he could see at first-hand what the fuss was about, and he was sure he would be out in a jiffy.

But the doctor had other plans. Mr Cauchi had to undergo an ultrasound, and when he jokingly asked whether it was a boy or a girl, the doctor gave him a grim look and said: "99.9 per cent it's cancer."

"When you're young you never assume the worst, so when he said the word 'cancer' I felt numb and just went through the motions as Nigel fired questions at the doctor," Ms Cauchi Carter recalled.

Her husband had a 13-centimetre tumour growing on his left kidney, a form of cancer that usually afflicts men in their 50s and 60s. All of a sudden, the back pain - which he had blamed on a new mattress - and his sudden weight loss had an explanation.

Within days, he had to have an operation. The couple had only been married 18 months earlier, and the news dealt a blow to their blissful life. However, coming from a generation that has read about all the technological advances in medicine, they were convinced it could be cured.

The tumour was removed and he underwent 20 radiotherapy sessions to counter the possible spread of cancerous cells. The treatment ended on Christmas Eve, in time for them to celebrate its removal.

In March 2008, he had a second check-up which gave the young manager the all-clear. Exhausted by the experience, the couple booked a holiday to Spain, and all seemed to be well until he discovered blood in his stools.

"I wasn't in pain, so we tried to enjoy the holiday and not think about it," Mr Cauchi said.

What they did not know was that when they were in Spain he was already carrying another tumour in his chest that had metastasised from the primary cancer and gone undetected in March's scans. The prognosis was dire - he could undergo radiotherapy and take a drug orally just to prolong his life by two years.

"Basically, I would just sit and wait to die," he said, adding there was no way he was going to accept this verdict. Hope came in the form of his wife's aunt who worked as a nurse in the UK and knew of this specialised hospital in Cheshire, Christie Hospital.

They sent the hospital all his medical records and a specialist called the same day. The first thing he asked was whether there was a mistake in the age - Mr Cauchi was the youngest patient he treated.

Within days, the couple flew to Cheshire. The consultant laid out four options, but recommended he undergo interleukin-2, an immunotherapy treatment that is unavailable in Malta and is a naturally-occurring protein, which stimulates an immune response.

"Suddenly, from a zero per cent chance of living, I was given a 10 per cent chance. If this treatment worked, the cancer would be in complete remission," Mr Cauchi said. The couple returned to Malta to think things over and, convinced this was the only way, they flew back. They put their jobs and lives on hold, and faced the ordeal with the support and prayers of family and friends.

During treatment in the UK his organs would take a bashing in the process, but if they survived the ordeal, the side-effects were reversible.

The treatment requires so much nurse vigilance that the hospital only has one patient at a time undergoing interleukin-2.

The first session proved successful, but he had to undergo at least another two sessions. Luckily, after the third treatment in January the good news emerged - his cancer was in remission.

Before this happened, Mr Cauchi says he and his wife used to consider themselves lucky to have good jobs, a foot in the property market, and their health.

"I definitely feel even luckier now, because I cheated death."