Zach Bray survived cancer after a shock diagnosis. Then tragedy struck on Sunday night

Zach Bray was only 25 when he was diagnosed with bowel cancer.

With no family history and his young age, doctors said at the time it was an “extraordinary” diagnosis, made even more extraordinary by the fact Bray caught it early.

Zach Bray survived bowel cancer and was an ambassador raising awareness around gastrointestinal issues.Credit: Facebook

The Hunter Valley mining engineer had the 34-centimetre tumour removed and entered remission. He embraced a role as ambassador for The Gut Foundation, determined to help others avoid the same fate.

“The hardest part with the most unknowns is past me and I’m super stoked, hard day but I’m through it and hopefully a better version of me because of it,” Bray wrote on social media following his surgery.

In a social media post, Bray shared that he was training for his commercial helicopter licence.Credit: Facebook

“I have been so humbled to see the incredible support that all of you, my friends and family unconditionally showed when I was in need, you’re all amazing beautiful people that I am so lucky to have.”

Bray and his family thought that after 2019 they were through the worst of what life could throw at them.

But tragedy struck again on Sunday night. The 29-year-old was among 10 unaccounted for after the bus he was on crashed at a roundabout on Wine Country Drive, near the Hunter Expressway off-ramp at Greta.

Bray had been celebrating the wedding of his friends Mitchell Gaffney and Maddy Edsell at the Hunter Valley’s Wandin Estate, and like the others on the bus, thought he was taking the safe and responsible route back to accommodation in Singleton.

Bray’s cancer journey had set him on a path to achieve more greatness. His family, now, is left with devastation.

“It was a year which has taught me to grow in so many ways as a man (I’m comfortable calling myself that now),” he reflected after getting the all-clear.

Originally from Dee Why on Sydney’s northern beaches, Bray had sought to get his commercial pilot’s licence, as his father did. He was on track, passing his private pilot’s licence in 2021. The dream was spurred on by his brush with cancer.

His father, Adam, spoke at the time of his pride in his son.

“Zach Bray… (you) have become a giant of a man in every possible way, proud doesn’t even come close,” he wrote on social media.

As news of the tragedy reached Bray’s friends, they took to social media to share their grief.

“Absolutely gutted to hear the news. Watching you flourish from being a young kid to an amazing man with the world at your feet was a pleasure to watch,” Bray’s friend Toddy Goodwin wrote on Tuesday morning.

“You had an impact on every person you met, and you’ll never be forgotten.”

Wedding guest Jamie Butters also shared her heartbreak as she came to terms with losing multiple friends.

Zach Bray (right) and his father Adam celebrate after Zach passed his private pilot’s licence test in 2021.Credit: Facebook

“My mind still (sic) trying to comprehend everything. My heart is heavy with pain,” she wrote, including Bray in her message.

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