lloydi3d ago

So this is a post that I didn't want to have to make, and it's not the way I'd want to make it - with a level of uncertainty that this really doesn't deserve.

Towards the end of last year, my friend and former colleague James Edwards was diagnosed with lung cancer. It was not clear initially whether it was treatable, but he underwent treatment (the usual chemo, radiotherapy etc). Unfortunately it was not caught in time and James was told that he had a matter of months.

Show threadlloydi3d ago
I was keeping in contact with James, and last had a video catch-up with him at the beginning of February. We made tentative plans to have another catch-up shortly afterwards along with Ricky Onsman. However, shortly after that messages to James from both of us went from 'delivered' (but unread) to 'not delivered' and, despite our best efforts to contact the person who James had indicated would let us know when the time comes, we have heard nothing.
Show threadlloydi3d ago

It's been over 2 months of radio silence and we can only assume that this means that we've lost James.

Both myself and Ricky have tried all that we can to find out if James is OK, even though we both know that it was unlikely given the sudden stop of communication. It's also been a tough decision to go public with what we know, as James had wanted to keep it on the down low.

Show threadlloydi3d ago
That said, I've personally had a couple of people who have heard whispers through the grapevine and have asked if James is OK or, in one case, "Is it true that James has died?" My response to these questions has been to basically lie about it. But everything in my gut tells me that he's gone, and it also feels like we're never going to get any sort of official confirmation that this is the case. I'd love to be proven wrong, but if he is still with is, I highly doubt he's *really* with us.
Show threadlloydi3d ago
I don't want to lie to others about this any longer, especially as the cat has somewhat been let out of the bag. In the absence of any information and communication, *not* saying anything at this point (or this point onwards) feels like people will never know; where does one draw the line? I hope that this was the right decision.
Show threadlloydi3d ago

I've known James for over 20 years, respected all the work that he's done, enjoyed a few fun nights out with him at various events over that time, and this is not exactly how I thought I'd be announcing this - without the certainty that I really, really wanted.

Will miss ya, Brothercake!

Show threadMatt Machell
@lloydi thanks for sharing even with the ambiguity. He'll be missed.
Apr 8 at 1:12pmWeb