AN EVENT billed as “Steve’s final party” will celebrate the life of a North East man whose battle against a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer has ended.
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Steven Johnson, 51, who died on Saturday, was diagnosed in April last year and later participated in a national trial overseen by Mustafa Khasraw from Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital.
The study involved taking the experimental drug Veliparib in addition to surgery, chemo and radiotherapy.
Mr Johnson’s wife Margot said the trial ended in December, but she felt it had slowed the progress of a cancer where the prognosis might be only months.
“We got a year and 27 days and we got a Christmas and we got an Easter and they’re special memories,” she said. “We had a lot of family time in March. We love autumn, we have a big autumn garden, so we had some lovely days out in the autumn garden.”
A day visit to King Island, donated by friends, was especially treasured by the Johnsons, who live at Rosewhite, near Myrtleford.
“That was his last little adventure away, and he had such a lovely time over there,” Mrs Johnson said.
The many trips to Sydney required by the treatment allowed Mr and Mrs Johnson and their daughter Breanna, 16, to spend more time with their extended family.
“Even though it was draining and a long way for Steve, I’m glad we did it,” she said.
Mr Johnson’s funeral will be held on Thursday at Happy Valley Hall, Rosewhite, from 2pm, with donations in his memory to the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation appreciated.
In January, Breanna asked the 12 guests at her 16th birthday party to consider donating instead of buying her a present and they responded with $300 in total.
Mrs Johnson, a nurse, intends to remain involved with the foundation and fight the deadly disease.
“I’m going to get up and be an advocate for Cure Brain Cancer and get this town raising money and stop somebody else having to go through it,” she said.
But for now she and Breanna are remembering a man who adored his family, his animals, gardening, music and travelling, and also loved to party. They thanked the Alpine Health staff for their care during Mr Johnson’s final days.
“He was surrounded by love and he had us there and that was the main thing,” Mrs Johnson said.
