Fundraising for Medical Bills. Does a terminal illness lead to terminal debt?

[Krum312]

The most successful fundraising campaigns on sites like gofundme and indiegogo tend to go to outrageous medical bills for the young and terminally ill. There's a local fundraiser for a family friend. She is under 30 with a rare form of cancer. And now she has to ask for donations.

I wonder if this happens outside the USA.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/catastrophic-medical-bills-online-donors-may-help/article4428106/

This article states this Canadian family started raising money when their son was diagnosed with a rare cancer. The article doesn't mention a bill for the radiation therapy or chemo therapy. Was the family only fundraising for the $200k trial program in New York?

Can a terminal illness lead to terminal debt?
Will the debt just be written off after so many years?
Does this ever happen outside the USA?

[AZDude]

If the debt is in the name, solely, of the person who passed away then it disappears(rules about collecting from the estate are complicated).