DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE'S CHAMPION TURVEY DEAD AT 61

VANCOUVER -- John Turvey, who became a heroin addict at 13 before
kicking the habit to become an activist and an Order of Canada
inductee, has died at 61.

Mr. Turvey was vested into the Order earlier this year for his
efforts to expose the problems of young people in Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside.

Mr. Turvey died in a Comox hospital Wednesday, 50 minutes after he
was taken there by ambulance.

He was forced to retire after being diagnosed three years ago with
mitochondrial myopathy, a disease that interferes with muscle
function, making it hard to walk and talk.

Deb Mearns, Mr. Turvey's wife of 10 years, said she's received an
outpouring of support from those he worked with over the years and
from residents in Comox, where the couple moved two years ago.

Ms. Mearns described Mr. Turvey's last moments as terrifying. "He
couldn't speak, he could hear," she said.

"He fought to breathe, like he fought all his life."

Mr. Turvey was born in Calgary and later adopted by a B.C. family,
Ms. Mearns said.

"He had a difficult childhood and became an addict as a child," she
said, adding that Mr. Turvey's passion to help youth in Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside was fuelled by his own demons.

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

Mr. Turvey was a founding member of the B.C. AIDS Network and
Vancouver Native Health Society and fought to improve the plight of
sexually exploited children.

Besides his wife, Mr. Turvey is survived by a 40-year-old son and a
one-year-old grandson who live in Nanaimo.