Heartfelt tribute issued to ‘one in a million’ and ‘irreplaceable’ Justin Vanezi after 20-month cancer battle

A heartfelt tribute has been issued in memory of Justin Vanezi, described as “one in a million” and “simply irreplaceable”, after he sadly passed away following a 20-month cancer battle.

Justin, who owned Greek food business My Meze BBQ and was a DJ for a number of years, was diagnosed with two types of cancer.

One was an extremely rare and aggressive form of blood cancer, called Primary Cutaneous Diffuse B Cell Lymphoma of the leg, and the other was Large B-Cell Lymphoma.

Justin underwent many rounds of treatment in a short space of time and after all options on the NHS were exhausted, his wife Becky set up an online fundraising page in May last year for overseas treatments and trials.

Although the money raised was not able to be spent on Justin’s treatment, he spoke to the Chronicle & Echo when the fundraiser reached £35,000 to say how “emotional” and “overwhelmed” he was by everyone’s generosity and support.

The fundraising total now stands at more than £80,000 and will be donated to the charities and causes closest to Justin’s heart, to keep his memory alive by helping others.

Justin was pleased to be able to celebrate his 40th birthday in October last year, which he said was one of his goals when he was diagnosed with cancer – and he also recently got married to Becky while in hospital, after 12 years together.

Following his sad passing, Becky issued this statement on social media: “It is with the heaviest hearts that we announce our beautiful, brave, courageous Justin passed away peacefully with his family by his side in the early hours of this morning (January 25).

“Our hearts are shattered into pieces and we can’t imagine a life without our Justin. He is simply irreplaceable.

“His positivity, his kindness, his energy, his infectious zest for life when all odds have been against him.

“He is simply one in a million and we couldn’t be more proud to call him our husband, son, daddy, brother, nephew, uncle and friend.

“Thank you for all your love and support for Justin and our family. It has brought us so much comfort over the past 20 months and to the care and support he has received.

“He will forever be our man of steel and our hero. We love you darling… always. Thank you for being you. I hope you realise how special you are.”

Becky and the rest of Justin’s family welcome all who knew and loved him to celebrate and remember the “wonderful life” he led at his funeral – the details of which are on Justin’s Instagram page.

They would like others to celebrate “the beautiful and incredible person he is” as they “say goodbye to their world”.

The second statement continued: “Our hearts are broken and our lives will never be the same without the person we love the most, but let’s make this day as special for him as he was so special to so many of us.”

The family has been “overwhelmed” by the generosity and kindness shown throughout Justin’s journey.

There will only be family flowers at his funeral and they ask that anyone who would like to make a donation should do so to the existing online fundraising page.

Further updates on how the money will be donated will be published on the fundraising page and the Remembering Justin website – set up for loved ones to share their special memories.

It is clear just how loved Justin is, with 300 comments on the announcement of his passing on social media.

The Vanezfest event was also a testament to how much of an impact he had on the lives of others, with so many turning up to show their support and to help him get the treatment he needed.

To make a donation in memory of Justin, you can visit the online fundraising page here.