Medal-winning Paralympian dies
Hal Merrill, 60, of Fredericton, was track and field competitor for Canada at three Games
A New Brunswick Sports Hall of Famer who medalled three times in at Paralympic Games in the 1990s has died.
Hal Merrill died Friday at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton at the age of 60. He was a resident of Charters Settlement, just south of Fredericton, and is survived by his wife and son, and other family.
Perhaps his greatest claim to fame was on the international stage, competing in the Summer Paralympics for Canada in 1992, 1996 and 2000.
Merrill won two bronze medals in shot put and discus throws in 1992, and he won bronze again in 1996 in shot put.
He set Canadian and world records in Paralympian track events.
Merrill also competed in javelin, and he was actively involved in wheelchair basketball and rugby.
A car accident in 1979 rendered Merrill a quadriplegic at the age of 15. He’d been an active athlete, and he turned to wheelchair sports after his injury to continue his pursuit of that passion.
Haley Flaro, executive director of Ability NB, said perhaps his greatest contributions and accomplishments were acting as a mentor and an inspiration to people with disabilities.
He even propped up those like her who work to better the lives of those with disabilities, she said.
“When I wanted to give up this work, he made me want to keep going,” she told the Fredericton Independent on Monday.
“Hal was a mentor to many who incurred a new spinal-cord injury. He helped people see past the disability and see all that life had to offer.”
Ability NB could always count on him to guide others, and to help them adjust and thrive, Flaro said.
She said Merrill was the first wheelchair-bound flagger to work for the Department of Transportation and showed people his abilities rather than his disability.
Bill Hunt, a longtime sports reporter with the Daily Gleaner who’s now retired, said what seemed most striking about Merrill despite his success on the international stage was his humility.
"I didn't know Hal very well, but to talk to him, you would never know he was a successful athlete. He was very modest,” he told the Fredericton Independent.
“I remember talking to his former coach, Leroy Washburn, and Leroy talked about how, when they went to international competitions, officials and fellow competitors would greet him with a hug or a kiss. He was that well-loved and respected."
Flaro similarly recalls how unassuming and humble Merrill was.
“I will always remember asking Hal if I could nominate him for the [New Brunswick] Sports Hall of Fame,” she said.
“He should have been nominated decades before but his humility likely got in the way. I called him and asked if I could nominate him and he simply said, ‘That would be very nice.’”
The nomination process allowed her to spend time with him, Flaro said, and she learned about his Paralympic history, the barriers he encountered and conquered when he became a flagger.
She said she cried the night he accepted the hall of fame honour.
“Sport was sport to Hal, and he wanted everyone to have the chance to play,” she said.
Merrill’s death reverberated not only in the capital region, but around the country.
"On behalf of the Canadian Paralympic Committee, we are saddened to learn of Hal Merrill's passing last week,” Catherine Gosselin-Després, chief sport officer with the Canadian Paralympic Committee, wrote in an email to the Fredericton Independent on Tuesday.
“... Hal was a great ambassador for the Paralympic movement and for Canadians with a disability, especially in New Brunswick, where he is a deserved member of his home province's sport hall of fame.”
Merrill is the type of Para-athlete who propelled Canada’s achievements at the Paralympic Games over the years and who inspires future para-athletes, she said.
“Hal's contributions to Para sport in Canada will not be forgotten, and we extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends during this difficult period,” Gosselin-Després wrote.
There will be a visitation at Faith Baptist Church in New Maryland on Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m., and a celebration of Merrill’s life will be held Thursday at the church at 2 p.m.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.