DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE ACTIVIST TURVEY DEAD

John Turvey, who became a heroin addict at 13 and kicked the habit to
become an activist and win the Order of Canada, has died at 61.

Turvey was vested into the order earlier this year for his efforts to
expose the problems of young people in the Downtown Eastside.

He was diagnosed three years ago with mitochondrial myopathy, a
disease that interferes with muscle function, making it difficult to
walk and talk.

Deb Mearns, Turvey's wife of 10 years, said his last moments were terrifying.

Turvey died in hospital in Comox, where he has lived for the past two
years, on Wednesday, 50 minutes after he was taken there by ambulance.

"He couldn't speak. He could hear," she said. "He fought to breathe,
like he fought all his life.

"He realized he was dying, but neither one of us was expecting that
was going to happen at that time."

Turvey spent 35 years battling for the down-and-outers on Vancouver's streets,.

Cannon Singh, executive director of the Downtown Eastside Youth
Activities Society, which Turvey founded, said a candlelight vigil
will be held on Sunday night at a park in the Downtown Eastside.

"He's the one who showed people how to clean their needles," Singh
said. "Long before any of that was socially acceptable, back in the 1970s."

Turvey was awarded the Order of B.C. in 1984. Four years later, he
was recognized by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta for his
plan to make clean needles available for addicts.

Besides his wife, Turvey is survived by a 40-year-old son and a
one-year-old grandson.