It's a good day for Kathleen Spilek. 

With her family by her side, she's been able to leave palliative care and spend some time in the Halifax Public Gardens.

Spilek was diagnosed with cancer in 2015.

"We knew it was going to kill her, but she was pretty stable. She was fighting off the cancer," explained her husband Eric Wynne.

She booked a flight to Ontario on June 18 so she could visit with her nieces one last time, however before she was able to use the ticket, her condition changed.

"On June 26, the doctors told us she had three brain tumours," Wynne told NEWS 95.7's The Sheldon MacLeod Show. "So they sent her for an MRI the following Friday, then the following week we found out she had four more brain tumours."

"Up until we found out about the brain tumours, she was battling the cancer, but after that it was a quick decline of her health."

When Wynne contacted WestJet to explain the situation and try to get a refund or a credit for the flight, he was shocked to find the request denied.

"I was hoping they would have a little compassion about the situation, because this is a life altering situation," he said.

"I think it's too late for us but if WestJet can change its policy, have a little humanity and open up their policy to allow for life altering events like this, provide a refund, credit or transfer, because Air Canada allows it."

"Our passionate, caring attitude is the foundation of our corporate culture," claims WestJet on its website.

Marketing professor at NSCC, Ed McHugh, says this is one of those cases when not all publicity is good publicity and he believes the company is missing a big opportunity.

"I think WestJet here should have quietly just looked at this case and handled this," McHugh explained.

"It would have spoke to their corporate values ... here's a family right now in crisis. The perfect move for WestJet would have been to show some compassion and they didn't. They say they're the company with a heart and in this situation, they're not showing it."

Members of Spilek's family, including her nieces, spent all day yesterday in a car, driving from Ontario to Halifax to they could have that last visit. They arrived at midnight.

Wynne said Spilek has been experiencing a crushing headache and pain, but the combination of a portable pain pump and the motivation of her family seem to have helped her temporarily overcome those challenging conditions so she can have an enjoyable day.