‘Can’t wait’: Victim of Hunter Valley wedding bus crash had recently beaten cancer

One of the victims of the horror Hunter Valley bus crash had recently beaten cancer and had been spreading awareness to others.

One of the victims of the horror Hunter Valley bus crash had recently beaten cancer and had gone on to spread awareness to others.

Zachary Bray, 29, from Byron Bay, was identified overnight among the 10 dead in the devastating crash that left another 21 hospitalised.

In June 2019, Mr Bray revealed his diagnosis in a lengthy Facebook post, saying “you have bowel cancer” were “four words I didn’t expect to hear two weeks ago”.

“It’s not often I put stuff on FB and prefer to keep my online presence low key,” he wrote.

“However I have a little story I’d like to share in the hope of helping spread a message that is very close to home right now.”

Hunter Valley bus crash victim Zach Bray. Picture: Facebook

Mr Bray explained that for several months, he had noticed blood when going to the toilet but had been reluctant to see a doctor. Eventually he started to take it seriously and went for a colonoscopy.

“After waking back up I had the unpleasant conversation with the gastroenterologist where she told me the news,” he said. “They had seen a growth and it appeared to be cancerous, so I’m 25 and have cancer holy s**t!”

He said he had been diagnosed with stage two or three rectal cancer with a 34-centimentre tumour, but the outlook was “really positive” and he was going in for surgery to have the section of his bowel removed.

Mr Bray was among the 10 deceased victims. Picture: Facebook

“Bowel cancer when caught in time is successfully treated 98 per cent of the time,” he said.

“As detection time is directly linked with survival rates its extremely important that we all look out for symptoms and not ignore changes or abnormalities to our bodies.”

He concluded, “Can’t wait to see as many of you once I’m back on my feet and doing the things I love. Thank you all to those who have known and given me and the family all the support we could dream of. Its been a very humbling experience affording me to feel how loving and special my family and friends are, I am extremely lucky to have you all!”

The mining engineer had a smooth recovery after surgery to remove 45-centimetres of his lower bowel — and was soon back at work and on a mission to talk to people about bowel cancer symptoms as an ambassador for the Gut Foundation.

He had become an advocate for bowel cancer awareness. Picture: Facebook

“Don’t put things off,” he said.

“Look out for blood in your stools or any change in bowel habits. If you are seeing this at any age, see your GP and discuss a bowel screen. I had no family history and I was young, so no flags went up. That’s why bowel cancer is called the silent killer. Thankfully mum was on my back and I happened to see a Facebook post that helped to save my life.”

The Gut Foundation said Mr Bray’s story was typical of a growing number of young Australians being confronted with the same diagnosis.

“We know that bowel cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia, but it is also preventable and treatable,” Gut Foundation president Professor Terry Bolin said.

The scene of the devastating Hunter Valley wedding bus crash. Picture: 9 News

On Sunday night, a coach carrying dozens of guests who had earlier attended the nuptials of local football star Mitchell Gaffney and Madeleine Edsell at the iconic Wandin Valley Estate rolled over while en route to nearby Singleton.

The incident occurred in fog just after 11.30pm, around 17 minutes into the journey, at a roundabout at Wine Country Drive near the Hunter Expressway off ramp at Greta in the wine region, which is a major tourism and wedding destination.

The driver, Brett Andrew Button, 58, will face court on Tuesday charged with 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death, as well as one count of negligent driving.

On Monday night, The Daily Telegraph identified most of the deceased victims, whose families have been notified by NSW Police, though the formal identification process could potentially take weeks.

It’s Australia’s worst road accident since 1994. Picture: Christian Gilles/NCA NewsWire

In addition to Mr Bray those victims are Andrew and Lynan Scott, a husband and wife from Singleton, Angus Craig from Queensland, Darcy Bulman from Sydney and Tori Cowburn and Rebecca Mullen, from Singleton.

The married couple’s MC Alex Tignani is believed to be among the injured at John Hunter Hospital, as are members of Mr Gaffney’s AFL club.

Nine injured guests were also members of Victoria’s Warrandyte Cricket Club, with president Royce Jaksic telling Nine newspapers they had sustained “some minor injuries — a broken jaw, a broken collarbone, things like that”.

It is the seventh-deadliest road accident in Australia’s history, and the worst since 1994.

Originally published as ‘Can’t wait’: Victim of Hunter Valley wedding bus crash had recently beaten cancer