Mount Evelyn
5 Tuesday, 10 December, 2013
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Anthony’s Christmas magic
A Mail Newspaper Group publication
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n Dad says son ‘never met a stranger, only new friends’...
Friend’s farewell By JESSE GRAHAM HE WAS described by many as an inspirational and kind-hearted young man. Last week, almost 1000 friends and family gathered at Discovery Church in Mount Evelyn to farewell 17-yearold Josh Matthews who died of a suspected asthma attack on 27 November.
People packed into the auditorium of the church, filling the main room and three overflow rooms, as many speakers took to the stage to share their memories of the teenager. Known to his family and friends as ‘Turbo’, Josh was well-known to many through being co-captain at Lilydale Heights Secondary College and a member of Coldstream Football Club.
A group of five friends spoke briefly on their experiences with Josh, though they all found a common thread when speaking of his compassion and care for anything with a heartbeat. “He was always first to help and the last to leave,” said one friend. “Through the darkest days of my life, Josh was always here for me,” said another.
His father, Roger Matthews, summed up the sentiments and adoration of so many when he said that Josh was a person that he could say “I am better for having met that person”. “He cared genuinely. He never met a stranger, only new friends.” An outpouring of grief flowed from the local community since Josh’s death, with 6183 people liking a Face-
book page in his memory and hundreds of family and friends gathering at Lillydale Lake shortly after his death for a balloon release. Rohan Dredge ran the service at Discovery Church and read out sentiments from those who could not attend, or could not speak on the day. Coldstream Football Club hosted a wake after the funeral had finished.
Work safety firefighters lobby MP MORE than 150 Country Fire Authority (CFA) members and associates gathered last Saturday to make a stand to get presumptive cancer legislation passed in the Victorian Parliament. The 27 crews from around the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges met at 9pm in front of Evelyn MP Christine Fyffe’s office to inform her of the current legislation that does not protect CFA members from cancer contracted on the job. Lilydale CFA captain Warren Davis said currently firefighters are more prone to certain types of cancer but because cancers can take years to show up it is almost impossible to prove they are work-related. “Our aim is for some presumptive legislation to be moved in Parliament for all fire volunteers and career staff to be protected,” he said. “We have had a very good discussion with Evelyn MP Christine Fyffe who has given us a few good leads which we are going to follow up. “I’m very overwhelmed by the amount of support we have received and what we are hoping is that the rest of the volunteers around Victoria stand up and do the same.” For the full story, see page 7.
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