CanAssist has a long history of helping people, regardless of where they live in NSW, have equitable access to cancer treatment and care. By providing financial assistance, practical support and raising awareness of the inequities, their volunteer network ensures that country people are given the same opportunities and treatment choices as those who live in city centres.

Locally, the Grenfell branch of CanAssist has provided support for LLoyd Thomas.

Lloyd’s cancer journey started in April 2024 – during a full-body MRI, it was discovered that Lloyd had stage 5 advanced prostate cancer.

He had had no symptoms. He was told, that as the cancer could not be cured, to get his life in order.

Lloyd is hoping that the 5 radiation treatments that he had in Orange will give him another 12 months of life.

Lloyd has a very positive attitude to life, saying “I do not ask why me, or my answer would be why not me. I’m getting on with my life”.

Lloyd has always been very active in the community – including volunteering as a driver for the community transport bus, supporting suicide prevention, volunteering for the Salvation Army or organising coffee mornings for men to catch up (whether they are ex-army or from the church) or trips away for men to give them a chance to socialise and talk.

“I’ve enjoyed organising things, I’ve enjoyed being involved in the community and as far as I’m concerned, I’ll keep doing that as far along as I can”.

There is only one doctor in Grenfell who is very stretched in treating the 3,500 people in the Grenfell area.

Even if you have an appointment, you may not see the doctor if an emergency arises in the hospital or community. And there is certainly no radiation capability in Grenfell for Lloyd to attend. He had to travel to Orange.

Lloyd cannot thank Can Assist enough.

In order for Lloyd to have his treatment in Orange (310km round trip), he needed to pay for accommodation near the hospital for two weeks.

As a pensioner and after paying for specialist appointments and tests, Lloyd could not afford the accommodation costs.

Without Can Assist paying for these costs, Lloyd would have not been able to afford his radiation treatment. He would not have the chance of the extra months of life.

All donations that are made to the local CanAssist branch be it by attending  any fundraisers or raffles stays in the Weddin Community to help out our fellow residents in their time of need, any donations that are left to CanAssist in a Will need to be left to GRENFELL CanAssist.