A couple’s destination honeymoon took a tragic turn as the bride suddenly became critically ill.

Sarah Danh, 27, and Luke Gradl, 28, have been married for less than a month. The couple said “I do” on March 21 in Spring Branch, Texas, in what Gradl describes as Danh’s “dream wedding that she worked tirelessly on every day for over a year.”

Luke Gradl and Sarah Danh Bride Is Battling for Her Life After Her Dream Honeymoon Took a Terrifying Turn

Luke Gradl and Sarah Danh on their wedding day; Sarah Danh and Luke Gradl in the hospital.Wincrest Films; Luke Gradl

Shortly after they tied the knot, the newlyweds traveled to Tokyo, Japan, to celebrate their marriage. On just their second day there, April 9, “the honeymoon took a turn for the worse.”

Luke Gradl and Sarah Danh Bride Is Battling for Her Life After Her Dream Honeymoon Took a Terrifying Turn

Luke Gradl and Sarah Danh on their wedding day.Wincrest Films

“When we arrived at the hotel the afternoon of April 8, she was not feeling well. So, we decided to rest that day because we had 16 total days in Japan, so we could afford to rest half a day,” Gradl tells PEOPLE. “April 9 things started to go bad very quickly, so I immediately took her to the hospital just before midnight where we were admitted to the emergency room, and the next day moved to the ICU because of life-threatening health decline.”

Danh was “suffering” from several symptoms, including: jaundice, vomiting, fever, body aches, and “extreme” hepatic encephalopathy. Hepatic encephalopathy is a serious decline in brain function caused by severe liver disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. When the liver is unable to filter toxins from the blood, they build up and affect the brain’s ability to function, and can lead to unresponsiveness, coma or death.

The sudden turn of events was a shock to Gradl. He says, “There were no health signs at our wedding.” Before the honeymoon, the bride appeared to be completely healthy.

Luke Gradl and Sarah Danh Bride Is Battling for Her Life After Her Dream Honeymoon Took a Terrifying Turn

Sarah Danh and Luke Gradl in the hospital in Japan.Luke Gradl

Danh works as a labor and delivery nurse in San Antonio, and earned her degree just over a year ago. She has dedicated her life to caring for others, but is now the one who needs help the most.

Danh is currently still in the intensive care unit in Japan and her condition is ever-changing due to “the severity of what is happening.” She’s been diagnosed with acute liver failure, but Gradl says there’s more going on because now her kidneys are failing and she’s battling intracranial brain pressure.

“She is on 24/7 CRRT (continuous renal replacement therapy), dialysis, blood transfusions, and plasma exchanges,” says Gradl, who is currently in flight school to become a pilot.

Gradl has been alone in his struggle to save his wife in the foreign country, but he’s working on bringing her home. Because Danh’s hospital bills must paid in full before she can be discharged, her family started a GoFundMe to ease the financial burden and help her recover and return to the U.S. safely.

Luke Gradl and Sarah Danh Bride Is Battling for Her Life After Her Dream Honeymoon Took a Terrifying Turn

Luke Gradl and Sarah Danh on their wedding day.Wincrest Films

Gradl is asking for prayers.

“With her story I just want as many people to be aware and provide prayer,” he tells PEOPLE. “I just want to her to be stable enough for our evacuation that is being coordinated through AirMed because it is a long, risky flight that must be done to get her home.”

He continues, “I love my wife with all of my heart and this is a test like no other. We have put our continued faith in God and all of the medical staff.”