He opened up his mail box and saw a letter from Bathurst Regional Council and his first thought was he was late on his rates.

But as he opened it, he discovered he had been named a Living Legend.

"I have to admit, it was a shock," he said.

"It was fabulous, an honour but I don't think I'm any different from anyone else because of this."

Since the start of 1979, Dr Sandra has been working as a general practitioner at Russell Street Medical Centre and over this time, he has been on the board of directors for the Central West Medical Association and he has performed 2000 delivers at the Bathurst Hospital in his role as a specialist obstetrician.

He explained that he and his wife - Dr Bernadette Droulers - originally moved to Bathurst at the end of 1978 and planned to stay in the city for five years.

"But we've stayed for 40 years now," he said.

"We had been overseas, had both been doctors and my wife had fallen pregnant, so we decided to come 100 miles from Sydney - were are family is.

"When I came here, this practice [Russell Street] was probably the smallest one in town and now it's one of the biggest ones in town. We've gone from four doctors to 11 doctors and it's been a long time and it's gone by very quick."

He said his work, the local community and the staff he works with is the reason he stayed in Bathurst for so long.

Dr Sandra originally graduated from the University of NSW in 1973 and in his first two years he worked at the St George Hospital.

He then entered a college program for general practitioners and while he was awaiting a place in obstetrics, he and his wife spent six months overseas backpacking over Europe.

"That's when we got back. We needed to settle down and we decided to move out here to Bathurst," he explained.

Since June 30, Dr Sandra has been semi-retired, working two-and-a-half days a week.

"The hardest thing for me is breaking my routine," he said on his semi-retirement.

"I normally get up at six, go for a walk into town and say hello to people. Then I get the papers, check the post office, have breakfast and then come to work at 8am. I've only been getting use to that for a few weeks.

"I'm now working semi-retired mainly because I'm 69 and I have to start pursuing self-interests like playing golf, going away with my wife and spending more time with my family.

"I enjoy golf and I enjoy people. Someone asked me what I would do if I gave up medicine and I said, 'I'd probably be a barista and make coffee, just so I can meet people'."

A feeling of helplessness when he was a teenager was the reason Dr Sandra decided to pursue a career in medicine.

And he also thanked his wife for the support she has given him.

"I'm very lucky to have a very supportive wife," he said.

"There's been days when our three children were young and I would have to go off and do a delivery meaning she would have to look after the kids.

"If I didn't have my wife, I don't think I'd be here today."

John Sandra was announced as a Living Legend back on Proclamation Day in May alongside Marie Billington, Barry Cubitt, Andrew Fletcher, Ian McArtney, Ian Warren and Millie Watson, adding to the 233 people already named since the project was introduced in 2015.

On July 27, the new Living Legends were presented with their trees at a special morning tea at BMEC.