A trail of memories A piece of the Confederation Trail will be designated Adam's Way, after the late Adam Mermuys of Montague, whose kind spirit infused others in the annual Tip to Tip for Africa ride and beyond MARY MACKAY The Guardian
No one knew Adam Mermuys’ last ride would be a short cycle from St. Peter’s to Morell on the Confederation Trail in the spring of 2006.
But shortly after that second annual Townships Project’s cross-Island Tip to Tip for Africa fundraiser, an event he chaired that year, he was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer.
Ten months later, he was gone.
Now, in memory of this amazing young Montague man, that special section of trail will be known as Adam’s Way. It is the first time such a Confederation Trail designation has been made.
“He was just such an inspiration. He was an inspirational leader from the standpoint that he was so sincere, so much fun, so intense about living and giving,” says Martha Deacon, co-founder of The Townships Project, a microlending organization helping women in South Africa.
“And people were drawn to Adam. He changed people because they’d think he was kind of a young kid with a bouncy, puppy dog enthusiasm and then he’d ask them a question and he’d reflect something back to them that they didn’t know about themselves. And it was inevitably something about a strength that they didn't realize they had.”
Born in 1981 to Jean and Terry Mermuys, Adam grew up in Heatherdale, the eldest of four in a family that included Jason, Kristen and Luke. He was always an intuitive child, seemingly wise beyond his years.
“He was an old soul,” says his mother, Terry Mermuys, now of Montague. “My mom said when he was born, ‘He’s a thinker.’ ”
His charitable nature manifested in a myriad of ways. In Grade 6, he and his classmates were asked to pay $1 each for a school field trip to the skating rink.
“He apparently had some money that he had earned and set aside and he paid to take the class skating,” Terry says.
“And I said, ‘so there’s your first move into philanthropy.’ ”
An interest in overseas work led him to the Dominican Republic Faith and Justice Experience in 2000 through the Diocese of Charlottetown’s Youth Ministry and the Latin American Mission Program.
He also was part of the 2004 Junior Team Canada economic trade mission to China to promote business between that country and ours.
In addition, he earned his business degree from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College.
His involvement with Rotaract, a youth division of Rotary for people between the ages of 18 and 30, led him to the first Tip to Tip for Africa fundraising event for The Township Project in South Africa.
Adam and Rosemond Beattie were dating at the time of that first ride in 2005.
“It was something that he was really excited about so it was natural to do it together,” Rosemond says.
Adam was Rotaract president when he organized the 2006 Tip to Tip for Africa ride and a massive fundraising dinner at Edenhurst Inn in Charlottetown that raised $5,000, which was matched by Scotiabank.
“He knew he was doing so many pieces of so many things, but he never fussed. He just went about it and there was no big fuss about anything,” Rosemond remembers.
“I think he was that person throughout the whole thing for everybody — just kind of a steady pace.”
In the midst of it all, Adam wasn’t feeling well.
“He wasn’t himself that second year,” Rosemond says.
Chest pains and shortness of breath prevented him from riding the Tip to Tip for Africa, with the exception of one small section between St. Peter’s and Morell with award-winning television broadcaster and Trans-Canada Trail chair Valerie Pringle and then Parkdale Doris personality Cynthia Dunsford during the third day of the 2006 ride.
“That piece was the last (that Adam rode) . . . ,” says Dunsford, who is now MLA for Stratford-Kinlock.
“Then Adam gets sick and everybody’s devastated because we all got to know Adam — what a wonderful person he was, really and truly, an incredible pure wonderful spirit."
The official word came on June 19, 2006. Adam had a rare form of an aggressive cancer.
“He was really upset and then he was very stoic, ‘OK what are we going to do about it?’ ” his mother says.
Adam and Rosemond became engaged in late summer of 2006.
After chemotherapy and surgery here and at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, he started five weeks of clinical trial treatment in Vancouver, B.C., in January 2007.
“We really enjoyed that time. We had some good laughs and travelled around a bit. It was like our honeymoon to us,” she says.
When Adam came home, his health fluctuated a bit and then started to decline.
By March, he was in theQueen Elizabeth Hospital fulltime.
Although the couple had set a fall ’07 wedding date, they moved things ahead to April 13 when Fr. Bob Coady performed a special marriage blessing at the hospital.
“It was the spiritual piece (of the ceremony) that I think was important to the two of us,” Rosemond says.
“Our faith was very important to us. It just felt like the right thing to do. It was a very special thing and a very hard thing because it was not how you expected things to be.”
That day is forever imprinted upon her mind.
“Adam just grinned from ear to ear. The only other day he smiled that much was the day he went out in Tim Banks’ Porsche. I think the Porsche almost beat me,” Rosemond says, smiling at that happy memory.
Adam was in a wheelchair and on oxygen and strong pain medication the night a benefit concert was held for him just two days later.
“The place was just jam-packed with people,” Terry remembers.
“The concert had started by the time we got there . . . . After the set he spoke and thanked everybody for coming and said, ‘The prognosis is not good. But on a better note, I married Rosemond Beattie on Friday!’ The place just erupted. He just didn’t want to leave things on a down note. And he was the last one to leave that concert.”
Adam passed away on April 29, 2007, at the age of 25.
With news of the Adam’s Way designation on the Confederation Trail, Rosemond believes that Adam’s selflessness would have him thinking of others, instead of himself.
“I think he’d probably be trying to figure out a way to have other people benefit from it, not necessarily want the fuss to be about him directly, but that it would benefit somebody else or something else . . . ,” she says.
“That’s the piece that Adam would have thought was most important, not even so much that his name would be on it but that it would lead on to other things.”
At a glance
Ready to cycle the Island
n What: The fourth annual Tip to Tip for Africa Bike Tour, in support of The Townships Project, is now accepting registrations. The tour is May 16-19. Ride the Confederation Trail tip to tip on a bike, with all accommodations, meals and transportation included in the registration fee of $150. In addition, each participant is required to raise $600 in donations.
n Register now: The Tip to Tip for Africa tour is open to all levels of cycling ability, but there is a limit of 50 riders. Check out the website at www.thetownshipsproject.org, or call Maxine Mallett , 892-8919, for more information.
n Getting ready:?You can meet other participants at upcoming training rides starting at Joe Ghiz Park in Charlottetown, Saturdays at 10 a.m. or Tuesdays at 5:45 p.m.
n For other details:?Check out tip2tipblog.
wordpress.com where there will be daily posts to build a feel for the trip and cover the trip underway; or tiptotipforafrica.wordpress.com where all the registration, payment, maps and information you need to ride is available.
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Geoff Murray from Bedford, Nova Scotia writes: As always Mary... a beautifully written article. I hope to see you on the trail again this year.
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