Level Dasher Health Update · 6:07pm Apr 22nd, 2023
Hi everyone - this is Level Dasher’s (Josh’s) brother Chris. I wanted to update you all on his behalf as I know how much he cares about this community, how much you all mean to him and would want you all in the know.
Following Josh’s recent surgery that removed a malignant tumor from his stomach, Josh was still feeling unwell. The cancer is melanoma and a week and a half ago we found out it had spread to other vital organs in his body. The spread has been rapid.
Josh is currently at Weill Cornell in NYC, surrounded by family and friends. His condition has deteriorated significantly over the last few days and the prognosis is dire, I’m afraid. While he isn’t able to interact with his phone or computer, he still has moments of lucidity and I’m happy to pass along any well wishes from this group. I know it would mean a lot to him.
Josh has lived a remarkable life. Following the heart transplant he had when he was a small child, no one could have foresaw his trajectory. We’re all incredibly proud of him and love him very much.
With gratitude,
- LD’s bro Chris
*****************
Sadly, Josh passed peacefully this morning in his sleep. Thank you all so much from the bottom of our hearts for the outpouring of love. This community is incredible. We will share more details as we know them about a celebration of life, and any opportunities to honor his memory.
I'm sorry for what you and your family are going through, Chris. It's cruel that your brother has had medical bad luck his entire life with no break. He doesn't deserve this.
I've known him for several years now, and though we've only physically spent time together about nine days total, we have become very close friends through our online chats. He's read and proofread numerous stories of mine, we've commissioned a lot of art together, and he even created a character to be a brother to my character.
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/960306667789119598/1003357718725275654/unknown.jpg
Artwork by AAnotherpony
I see Josh as my brother, too. We have so much in common, and he's extremely kind and considerate, creative and driven. I couldn't help but see him as a bit of a role model while visiting him this past October, where I saw someone who genuinely cared about and did what he could to help out the people who lived in his community. The first night we got to his apartment he offered to pick up groceries for his neighbors. He wouldn't take no for an answer. He knew everyone in his apartment building by name and their interests. But he shrugged this all off as no big deal when I mentioned it to him, citing it was just something natural to do when you live around other people.
I don't know what else to say. I'm just glad that he's surrounded by family as he goes through this, and that my friends and I were able to give our best wishes for him.
Damnit, your brother is a great and amazing person, and has written an equally amazing and special story on this website. It saddens me greatly to hear that the cancer spread.
I hope things turn around. I really, really do.
Even though I know they likely won't.
Please, pass along the praise of a fellow writer, his story has never failed to lighten my day and put a smile on my face. I hope knowing his writing has been so impactful, not just in my life, but in the lives of many on this website, brings a smile to his face in return.
Best wishes to your brother, and to your family, in these dark times,
~Sylvian
I am so sorry to hear about all that has happened, and I...really don't know what to say. Level Dasher is an amazing person and we all love him so much...please send him my wishes that he at the very least is in as little pain as possible right now
Wishing you all nothing but the best.
Your brother is one of the most fun, clever, kind, and most talented people in the MLP community I've ever met. That said, it greatly saddens me to hear that his condition has gotten worse.
I really do miss talking to him.
Who knows if things will start to look up from here? If a miracle suddenly occurs. I know it seems highly unlikely, but I'll pray that it will.
Keep staying strong, LD.
Man. LD is such a positive presence on this website. He's been super kind and supportive to me over the years. Please tell him he's in my prayers, as are you and the rest of his family.
You're an extremely kind person.
You helped me when you didn't need to. Your comments and positivity are touches of warm light in the dark.
You're a positive person. We haven't interacted much–but you've been a source for good for this website and myself.
Please be well.
My heart goes out to ya bro.
As someone going through hell with their own health issues, I sympathize with you. Best wish and hoping for a speedy recovery.
I'm sorry to hear this happened. I don't know you that well, but seeing the comments, it seems that you're a really great person, offline and online.
I'm keeping you in my prayers, LD. I hope you recover... *hugs*
Oh I'm so sorry to hear of this. Thank you for sharing this with us and sending all my best wishes that he's not in too much pain.
Dash we've been friends for so long now...I'll miss you. I hope you aren't in pain... Please be happy. Foals
I’m sorry it had to be this way. You wrote great stories that got me through hard times. We are worse without you.
I don't know the right words to say, if any. What I do know is that chances increase drastically when people genuinely hold onto hope. Miracles happen. To whatever high powers might or might not exist, I pray for one now with all my heart.
Get well, Level Dasher. Please.
Your brother is a kind and caring person. I first met him at a convention. He was so supportive of me and we talked for hours about writing, the fandom and life. He is a great writer and a brilliant voice in our community. Please let him know that all of us, and that Olden is wishing him the best wishes I can send him. I hope for the best and give you and your family hope and strength. Take care and blessed be.
Please give him my best wishes! 💕
Of all the worlds and all the universes it was a privilege to live vicariously in his. Prayers and hopes.
I really hope you can make a turn around, I do wish Level the best and do actually mean it. I’ve never talked to Level before, however I’ve seen his work and do know he’s a really nice guy on this site.
Truly hope he makes it through this, wishing him the best.
Truly hopes he makes it.... Best wishes to him and the family
I am remiss that my interactions with you were limited to your participation in Jinglemas. As a reliable Breezie, you were vital to its success year after year. I knew I could always count on you. I know I've said it before, how humbled and truly grateful I was for your help to make the event a success every year, but I'll say it again. Jinglemas just won't be the same without you.
Rest well, my friend.
I wish you and your family well in this tragic time.
I am very sorry to hear this news about your brother. He has given us a lot of happiness and enjoyment here on FimFic, and this despite all the burdens on his health. He is a very good and noble and generous man, and your family should be very proud of him.
Please tell him thank you, from all of us, from the bottom of our hearts.
We're all rooting for ya LD. Please get better soon, we miss you here on fimfic
tell him to cling as spitefully to life as he did with the heart transplant. be stubborn enough to live through this no matter what it takes.
Wish you and your family the best.
Wishing your brother the best of luck.
Stay strong and never give up on Hope.
Sorry to hear that but I hope your brother gets well.
I'm a latecomer to writing. But Josh was one of the first writers I met at my first Everfree Northwest, and we just sat and talked for hours. Even after that, we always made sure to check in whenever we were at the same cons. And ever since then he's been a great editor. When I won Iron Author at the last EFNW, I asked Josh to edit the story, about Kirins. And he did... free of charge. I think it was his last editing job before he went on an editing sabbatical.
Josh is a true friend. Please let him know his friends, all of them, say hello and are praying for him. And many of them are re-reading his stories tonight. 😌
St. Jude Thaddeus, pray for him. St. Peregrine Laziosi, pray for him. St. Luke the Physician, pray for him. Blessed Mother Mary, pray for him.
Wishing you and your family the best, and that you enjoy every moment you can with those who love you best.
He's always been there, on so many great stories and in so many places. Even in mine, sending help when it was needed too.
Even seeming to find some little tidbits of wisdom in my dumb writings ^^;
It says a lot about a person, when even those who didn't know them personally come out of the woodwork to give them (due) praise and wishes. And mine can be count among them.
I hope everything goes well. We're all rooting for him. Even if things are dire, I still hope.
Thank you. Thank you for the kindness and positivity. Thank you for the support, thank you for everything. Even if I didn't know him personally, it was felt by us all.
I never had the chance to know you, but nobody deserves to go through what you're going through. I'm so sorry you've had to suffer through this. I really do wish I got to know you when you were here. We'll all be with you to the very end <3
Hang on, friendo. I'm working on that next chapter of 'Lawmare' as fast as I can. I need to hear your thoughts on it.
I met Josh at BABSCon last year in 2022 after Navel Colt introduced us. It took all of a minute for me to instantly like him, and by the end of the con, his genial, kind, and approachable manner solidified him as a friend. He is the fifth member our our friend group. While I haven’t known him as long as Navel, I was lucky to have this past year to get to know him better. All the kind words said by others here echo my own thoughts. To put it as succinctly as I can — Josh had an impact on my approach to viewing life in a profound way. It’s been a rough few days as Chris has been gracious enough to keep Shayne updated, and allowing those than knew him to reach out and let him know how important he has become to many of us. My emotions are still raw, so I’ll stop here for now.
Hey, just heard about this. It's super frustrating to know that we have to be patient and keep hoping for the best with these updates. As big as it has gotten, this is a tight community and knowing that one of our own is not doing great (and has in fact not been doing great for some time) hits deep. For what it's worth, and as you can see in the comments, we're all here for you, and we'll be here wherever things go.
Wishing you all the best!
That sucks man, I hope somehow things get better.
Best of wishes to him and don't forget to hug em given the chance
Wishing you the best. I hope you get better soon.
Hiya. I may not know him much, if at all, but from the little I saw of him around here, it was great to see the community give back to him in a previous time of need, which could only mean good things about the person he is both online and offline. Reading the comments here, it just reinforces that fact.
May you stay strong, Josh, and I will pray for you and your family through this.
I don't know you personally, but I'm rooting for you with all my heart. Get well soon!
Prayers and best wishes going out to you and your family, Josh.
I didn’t seem Dasher around, but this is terrible news. I hope everyone can get through this as best they can.
Best of luck to you and yours. He's in our thoughts as well.
While I don't personally know much about you Dasher, I can tell from these comments that you were a ray of sunshine and kindness to all of those around you, and I wish you and your family the best through this situation.
People phase in. People phase out. And... I don't always know why. Sometimes they drop out of the community for a while. For a lifetime. They're having connection problems. Financial issues. Their computer exploded. I won't know. All I'll see is the silence. And maybe I'll wonder about that, and spend some time in worry.
(Rather often, I wind up assuming it was something I said.)
But I won't know. I can't. There was a voice, and... now the words are gone.
New words, at least. I can run an engine through the old ones.
I was just searching through the chat archives on Discord. When was the last time you said something? What did you say? Easy enough to locate that. It was February 8th of this year.
(It's been over two months. People phase in and out. How much had I truly noticed? You had sixteen pages of results, and -- some of them are seasons apart. You always phased, over and over. Did I notice at all?)
So... February 8th wasn't exactly a good day. I'd just received a printed summary of my mother's Medicaid charges for the past billing quarter. They were understandably low, because she'd been dead for slightly more than two years. Any kept appointments and charged procedures would have required some explaining. And still... the paperwork keeps coming.
You reminded me that you receive those summaries. Medicare via disability. And I've known that you weren't entirely healthy for a while. Not the whys of it, and -- I don't pry. Don't even ask, most of the time. Respecting privacy.
But you were very familiar with one of my mother's old drugs: mycophenolate mofetil. And now I know why, don't I? You were trying to fight off organ rejection. And it's a drug which can wreck the immune system, which is why you were so isolated during the pandemic and just having things delivered in without seeing anyone. Couldn't risk going outside. All you had was your voice.
...last words. Talking about the Medicaid summary wasn't it.
The topic had shifted a little. Delayed paperwork. Someone else in the server had their father receive a jury duty notice, about a week after his death. I morbidly noted that locally, there would now be an arrest warrant. Can't ignore a summons, y'know.
And these are the last words I have from you.
I'm not laughing. I could, I suppose. Literal graveyard humor. Especially now. But... no.
Search for things you said in the server, and there's sixteen pages of results. (Columns.) A rough majority are from November 21st of last year. You probably remember that one, because it was a hell night. Desperate hours of trying to prevent a death. Someone had posted a suicide note on the site, and... we were trying to track them. Get a welfare check to their door, before it was too late. The columns are filled with you trying to piece together the tiny crumbs of clues into something resembling a loaf.
At one point, you were making the actual phone calls. As a stranger in that person's existence, trying to convince the authorities that you had the right and duty to intervene. You were fighting as hard as anyone on that night. Trying to save their life, with nothing more than your voice.
Something you said on that night.
Still not funny.
We need the voices. We need every voice, every instrument in the orchestra. But they phase in and out. Sometimes you don't even notice an extended absence, especially with someone who could have a season or more pass between words and...
...you don't hear the silence. Not until you look back.
i don't always ask the right questions, or ask anything at all. Respecting privacy, I tell myself. Or... maybe I'm afraid of what I'll hear.
I'm listening. I swear. We need your voice.
They phase in. They phase out...
We heard you. We all did.
(I wish I'd listened more.)
All I can say is I'm rooting for you man. You're in my thoughts and I've got my fingers crossed for the best.
I've never met you, but you are the one of the best in the community right now. I hope a miracle occurs. I truly hope so
Godspeed.
....I wish I got to meet you.
Oh God, I'm so sorry that this is happening to you ;-;
Please, let him know that I'm going to be praying for him in church today, that he's in my thoughts and heart, that I wish for the best-case scenario. Tell him not to give up, that we're all here for him, and that we all love him.
Tell him I remember his voice that night in November. Please, let him know that I think he's amazing.
Iʼm very sorry for everything you and your family are going through. I wish you the best and know that youʼre in my thoughts always.