Critically-ill Hawke's Bay man Jarred Thompson is ready to board the risky flight to bring him home to New Zealand, his friend says.

Tom Brook, who is with Thompson in Fiji, said it had been a tough night for Thompson, but he was coherent this morning.

"He/we are ready to come home."

Thompson will be leaving Fiji this afternoon and landing at Auckland Airport this evening, where he will be taken straight to Auckland Hospital.

The 27-year-old Napier fell ill while on holiday in Fiji, celebrating the fact he was in remission from testicular cancer after 12 months of treatment.

Thompson, who has a six-year-old daughter in NZ, was admitted to Lautoka Hospital on Thursday after what started as a headache quickly turned into a "potentially life-threatening condition" as pressure built on his brain.

Friends and family, as well as the wider community, rallied behind Thompson, raising the more than $27,000 for his medical evacuation through a Givealittle page.

They have raised over $34,800, not enough for a private jet which would cost $62,000, but enough to get him back on a commercial flight with a medical evacuation team.

A private jet would have been less risky for Thompson as it could have been pressurised to sea level.