Lifetime of kindness returned when most needed

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/02/2010 (5886 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This is a story about the wheel of life. About how what went around for one man, came around for him in the most important and telling of ways.

The man’s name is Telly Mercury.

He practised law in Winnipeg for 50 years. But he might be best known as the lawyer for Ben Hatskin in 1972, when the Winnipeg Jets’ owner first shocked and eventually shook up the National Hockey League by luring Bobby Hull to the World Hockey Association.

But to those who were privileged to be his client or his friend, which often were one and the same, Telly Mercury was much more than a trusted lawyer.

"I like all kinds of people," he told his future wife Nancy by way of warning her what life would be like with him.

Which suggests why, when a widow or some other client was struggling with a personal problem, Telly would take the time to sit and counsel them in his sweet, warm way.

His older brother Michael Mercury, who was also his law partner at Aikins MacAuley & Thorvaldson, summed it up this way.

"He was everybody’s caretaker."

Then, last February, roles abruptly changed. Telly was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a bone-marrow disease that leads to acute leukemia, often rapidly.

Telly’s middle son Jamie, who is also a lawyer at Aikins MacAuley & Thorvaldson, heard immediately in a call from his mother.

The oldest son, John Paul, who’s a tennis pro in Chicago, would also get a call. As would the youngest, Mark, who’s a software developer in Minneapolis.

Within a week, Telly’s oncologist, Dr. Rajat Kumar, would get more definitive test results.

Nancy asked how long Telly had.

Months was the answer. He needed to get his affairs in order.

The CancerCare Manitoba plan for treating Telly was standard: blood transfusions when needed and supportive care.

But Jamie and his brothers wanted more.

So did Jamie’s wife, Kim.

She came across the name of a drug called Vidaza commonly used in the United States to treat the disease. It’s not a cure, but it could give their dad more time.

The catch was the drug wasn’t available in Manitoba, not even licensed in Canada. But the boys kept researching and learned Health Canada has a special access program that included Vidaza.

If a doctor asked and a provincial program paid for it.

That seemed to be the problem. Vidaza was expensive.

One treatment in the United States was $10,000 to $15,000.

So Jamie applied under the Freedom of Information Act to find out if Vidaza was used elsewhere in Canada.

It was.

He learned Ontario and Alberta accessed it regularly.

Then Kim located the manufacturer of Vidaza, a Colorado company called Celgene. The family was in for a surprise when they contacted Celgene.

Vidaza was in the process of being licensed in Canada. And the company expected by the end of the year Vidaza would be available free to some Canadian hospitals on an introductory basis.

The Mercury family felt as if they were one number away from winning the lottery of life.

Then that last number came up.

Jamie informed CancerCare Manitoba.

"And within a day I was contacted by a patient representative at CancerCare to give me the fantastic news they spoke to a Celgene representative, and they would make Vidaza available for our dad.

"It was like his life had just been saved. It was just amazing."

After the first Vidaza treatment, "he was like his normal self," Jamie said. "He was back at work, running around the office. He had colour in his face. I kind of knew in the back of my mind it wouldn’t last. But it gave him a second chance to make the best of our time with our dad and do the things he wanted to do."

Telly carried on leading his life the way he had always led it.

Just being himself.

Hanging out with his friends and family. Lunching at Rae and Jerry’s. Going on his annual fall golf trip to San Antonio with the usual suspects and breaking 90 for the first time in his life. Or so the pals who marked his scorecard made sure it read.

And in the summer, he went golfing in Gimli with his three sons.

The bonus was seeing his first grandson Aris, learning Mark was engaged and celebrating his 75th birthday with family and friends.

Aristotle John "Telly" Mercury died on Monday, a year after his initial diagnosis.

His family with him, of course, as they had always been.

I asked Jamie if his dad told them how proud he was of his three sons, and of course, his daughter-in-law.

Jamie answered by quoting what he overheard his dad telling his friends.

"My kids don’t ever have to give me another gift," Telly would say. "They gave me my life."

gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca