Capital Football referee Cameron Shelton succumbs to cancer battle

Tributes started flowing for Shelton on Monday after news filtered through he died on Sunday morning. He was just 25 years old.

Shelton, known to some as the "Giraffe", was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma two years ago and had 14 cycles of chemotherapy, but was unable to beat the rare bone cancer in his spine.

He was given just a 20 per cent chance of survival and was unable to referee after learning of the diagnosis.

Capital Football, Brindabella College and the NSW Futsal Referees were among the groups to pay tribute to Shelton.

"Cameron was a dedicated futsal and football referee from Canberra," the NSW Futsal Referees said in a Facebook post.

"He was a great friend of many of the NSWFRA membership through his involvement in officiating the NSW Premier Leagues, F-League and Futsal National Championships over many years.

"The 'Giraffe' will be sorely missed by not just his fellow referees, but the futsal community as a whole. As a mark of respect, NSWFRA members wore black armbands during their appointed Winter Futsal League matches last weekend."

Shelton was determined to fight the disease and had planned to run the City2Surf for a second time this year to raise funds for the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse. Shelton stayed at the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse when he had to travel to Sydney for treatment over the past two years.

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He raised more than $8000 last year after launching his "Titanium Spine" team for the event, and had already raised more than $2500 for this year's event in August.

Capital Football referees, his family and close friends are planning to run the race in his absence this year to honour his life.

"Cam somehow maintained a bright and airy personality despite the many stages of his battle, and he took time to put some words together for us to keep Ewing's Sarcoma at the forefront of the public's thoughts and gain the funds needed to help those requiring the services he was, unfortunately, forced to need," Capital Football said.

Despite being diagnosed when he was 23, Shelton was adamant that his battle with cancer would not affect his bubbly personality and his generosity to those around him.

Shelton wrote a personal testimony of his battle before his passing, helping provide awareness of what he and others went through in fight against cancer.

"I got sick eleven times during this first lot of chemotherapy and was hospitalised, nearly dying in ICU on one occasion," Shelton wrote.

Undergoing surgery to stabilise his spine, the surgeon put large titanium screws in his L3 and L5 vertebrae connected via large titanium rods.

"After the surgery, I had to stay in hospital for seven days. During this time, I had to learn how to walk again, sit, stand, go to the bathroom, all of those trivial things which became significant issues. Because of Covid restrictions I was only allowed one visitor per day, making [life] hard on me and my family," he wrote.

After finishing chemotherapy in January last year, Shelton was told the cancer had returned to his L4 vertebrae again, as well as in his pelvic area and upper leg area.

Shelton was soon readmitted into chemotherapy where he was forced to travel to Sydney. He had another 25 chemotherapy sessions and 600 needles.

"Ewing's Sarcoma needs to have more time in the spotlight. It is a nasty, horrible thing that can be fixed, with more research, funding, and time in the spotlight," he wrote.

Set to run in the City2Surf to raise funds for the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse for the second year running, Shelton's close family and colleagues aim to run in his honour this August.

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