By MELISSA MEEHAN
Liver cancer patient faces a miserable winter…
DIAGNOSED with a terminal illness and living in a leaky caravan – Errol Barbour still doesn’t feel comfortable asking for help.
For years he has lent a helping hand to those broken down on the side of the road, or farmers struggling to get their pipes working but now Errol is down on his luck and needs them to return the favour.
He is a familiar face in Wandin and his motorbike is remembered by many from his journeys along the Warburton Highway.
In September 2012 he was diagnosed with liver cancer and is currently undergoing his third radiation treatment.
If that isn’t bad enough, he and wife Julie can’t move into their dream home because they say a dispute with a tradesman has left them unable to pay for the house to be completed.
Too sick to speak to the Mail when we visited the Gruyere property he and Julie call home, Errol maintained his wariness to ask for help.
They bought the block of land next to Julie’s parents place so they could care for them, now all that stands is a blue metal frame where their house should be.
“The house was already in motion when he got sick,” Julie said.
“So there was no going back.”
They already had all the fittings and fixtures, but needed a slab when they ran into the dispute with the tradesman.
“Then we needed to pay someone to fix it and we were already on a tight budget,” she said.
“Once the slab was down, Errol, myself, my daughter and a few neighbours put up the frame.
“But Errol often isn’t well enough, and we don’t have the knowhow to finish the house.”
With so many medical appointments and given her parents’ ailing health, Julie had to give up work to care for all three.
She still finds time to volunteer one day a week at a local nursing home.
With no money left in the bank to complete the house, and given the rising medical costs, Julie agreed that they needed help.
“We don’t like having to ask for help,” she said.
“But living in a caravan when Errol is as sick as he is, isn’t good for him.
“We don’t need money, but it would be wonderful if some local tradespeople could donate their time to help us out.”
Anyone who can donate some time should email editor@yvnews.com.au or contact 9751 9300 and the Mail will pass on details to the Barbour family.
