Griffith is mourning the loss of a man who has been remembered as a selfless and caring ‘old soul’.
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Kyle Zandona passed away on Christmas Day, he was just 25.
Sister Tayla Zandona paid tribute to her brother, a man she says was selfless in the truest sense of the word.
“Words cannot describe the person he was, he just thought of everyone else but himself,” she said on Wednesday.
“I just thought he was amazing, I have never seen anyone so young be so selfless and caring.
“Kyle’s friends ranged from about two to 90, he got along with everyone...a lot of people loved him, just because he was so amazing.”
Miss Zandona said her brother had once been nominated as young Australian of the year, but had humbly turned it down, saying he didn’t think he deserved the recognition.
“Kyle said he hadn’t done anything for it, but he volunteered and was on Yenda Rotary and was just 19 when he joined,” she said.
“When he got sick, just before that he had lost his best friend and it hit him very hard.
“He started going to church and volunteering that is where a lot of his friendships with older people came from.
“One day I asked him why and he said he went to church to pray for his best friend and he volunteered because he was given a second chance at life and he wanted to give back to the community and do something with his life that mattered.”
For the past seven years Kyle battled osteosarcoma, a rare form of cancer which begins in the bones.
Miss Zandonda said she hoped people would become more aware of the disease in the future.
“It is known as the forgotten cancer, but it effects 20 per cent of child’s cancers and 10 per cent of those diagnosed are between the ages of 15 and 30,” she said.
“It is a very aggressive cancer and Kyle was the strongest person I’ve ever met and he never complained about being sick.”
With only three nurses left in Griffith’s mobile palliative nursing unit, the Zandona family have called on the local community to help save the ‘vital’ service, which they say is under threat.
“Having that option of him coming home was amazing because it relaxes the family members and you can always be with them, you don’t have to worry about visiting hours,” she said.
“Kyle spent the last seven years in hospitals and he said he didn’t want to spend his final days in one.
“The mobile palliative care nurses were amazing, it was such a tragic time and they made it as comfortable as the situation could be.”
In the years to come Kyle's family will continue to remember a much loved brother and son.
“All of the memories we have, living in Yenda we would always hear when a train was coming and he would say come on Tayla and Jenay we’re going for a drive,” Miss Zandona said.
“We would just drive and follow the the train along, I think the furthest we went once was Ardlethan, he loved listening to old music, he really was an old soul and he took that meaning all the way."
"Kyle you will forever be the meaning of bravery to us, we love and miss you.”