Josh Stanton's legacy is one of continuing help

The Tura Beach electrician was a popular figure with his neighbours and friends who he was often happy to help.

It was around this time that Josh was diagnosed with medullary thyroid cancer and yet he was always positive and remained focused, not letting his own challenges get in the way of helping others, in the small ways he could.

He was a third generation, Bega resident; as an electrician he was frequently going out of his way to help others, often the elderly who he'd help at any hour of the day or day of week, often free of charge.

Very sadly, at age 40, Josh lost his battle with medullary thyroid cancer on August 17, 2021, leaving behind his wife Jakki and young son.

"He was such a humble, generous person who touched so many lives in our local community, mostly in a small way that meant a lot to so many, especially the elderly," Jakki said.

Despite his ongoing treatment for the cancer, Josh never faltered in striving to help others.

In 2019 he was witness to a tragic event; Josh was among a small group of people performing CPR on a neighbour while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

"I don't know if a defib would even have made a difference, but I don't want to be in the position of asking the question for the rest of my life," Josh said of the tragic situation at the time.

He immediately set about organising funding, from Rotary, and finding suitable locations for public defibrillators in Tura Beach and Merimbula.

Eve O'Brien was a member of Merimbula Rotary at the time when Josh came to Rotary to talk to members.

"A lot of people knew Josh and knew he wasn't well but he was always positive, a really beautiful young man," Eve said.

"He did a lot of favours for people and was extremely honest, just a beautiful person," Eve said.

Josh and Jakki bought Bev Richardson's house when they moved to Tura Beach and she stayed in contact.

"He was my go-to man, he was always so helpful. I can't say enough good things about him," Bev said.

Even right at the end of his life he was thinking of ways to help others, which is what led to his fundraising page for the North Foundation.

All funds raised will be donated to the Thyroid Cancer Research Unit at Royal North Shore Hospital where Josh was treated for four and a half years by specialist Professor Bruce Robinson who heads this fund.

Donations will go directly to supporting research on a new drug which Josh took to help slow the growth of tumors.

"I was astounded by his bravery and determination to not let this diagnosis interfere with his life," Professor Robinson said.

"Royal North Sore Hospital has a long history of excellence in management of patients with thyroid cancer, built on previous and international work," he said.

Professor Robinson said in familial cases people are born like it but in other cases a gene mutation develops during the person's life.

He said new drugs have been developed that target the genetic abnormalities to give patients more time but it was ongoing work.

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"Josh had medullary thyroid cancer; it was a relatively rare form," he explained.

"Every case is different in how the tumour responses and how the patient is able to deal with it. Josh's case was very sad," Professor Robinson said.

Jakki said that after Josh complained of ongoing pain, it took nearly 10 months to try and determine what was wrong with him.

"After multiple trips to A&E, tests, scans and biopsies, it took nearly a year to get a diagnosis which was in January 2017," Jakki said.

"Although medullary thyroid cancer is rare, other thyroid cancers and thyroid health issues are increasingly common, however are often over looked. Throughout this journey with Josh, I've heard multiple similar stories unfortunately," Jakki said.

Jakki said thyroid cancer was a silent killer and encouraged people to check their thyroid health.

If you would like to donate in Josh's memory visit his page for the North Foundation.