MEDI-FILE: THE RIPPLE EFFECT

Josh was determined to stop others with cancer from feeling alone

Driving back home after a movie night with my girlfriend, Alex, now 33, I felt a lump on my neck.

This feels off,' I told her.

It was January 2017 and, after seeing a GP, I was sent for a CT scan, PET scan and biopsy. Afterwards the specialist called me in.

'I'm sorry, you've got cancer,' he said.

Suddenly I went numb.

The prognosis was unknown as I needed more tests to determine the stage the cancer was at. That night, I told my mum, Robyn, now 55 and my dad, Grant, 56, and Alex.

'I'm right here with you,' Alex said.

The specialist called me in a few weeks later. You have Hodgkin's lymphoma stage 1,' the doctor told me, explaining it was a cancer of the lymphatic system, a type of blood cancer, and treatable and curable'.

I started chemotherapy, followed by two weeks of radiation. At treatment, I met older people or, sadly, kids. But, at 28, I was the only one in my age group. 'I just wish I could've found someone in New Zealand to talk to,' I sighed to mum.