09/03/2026
Proud to be supporting this cause September 25th. Spaces a filling quickly!
⚕🔬 Sechelt resident pioneers brain research in the dying process on Sunshine Coast BC Canada 🇨🇦 By Mary Basas
PLEASE keep comments and conversations civil and respectful 👇 NO H8
I’m reaching out with a story that I believe would be meaningful to the Sunshine Coast — a story about a local Sechelt resident whose final moments became an extraordinary contribution to medicine, whose organs saved the lives of others, and whose legacy is now helping open the door to further research.
My husband, Ric Harris, died from ALS in September 2024. But on the day he died, he also became a pioneer in medical research.
Ric was the first person in medicine to have his heart and brain function and circulation simultaneously monitored during the medical assistance in dying process.
The research was led by Dr. Mypinder Sekhon and his team at Vancouver General Hospital. In a letter to our family following Ric’s death, Dr. Sekhon described Ric’s participation as a “first-in-human scientific endeavour” and said that Ric had opened the door for medicine to begin unravelling key unknowns about what happens to the human body and brain during circulatory arrest.
The findings were remarkable.
The research showed that the brain’s blood flow and function ceased well before the heart stopped functioning, raising important questions about our understanding of the timing of death. It also documented a sudden burst of activity in the occipital lobe — the back of the brain — as Ric neared death, which the researchers noted may be documented evidence related to the phenomenon commonly described as “seeing the light” before death.
Dr. Sekhon wrote that Ric’s contribution to the foundational understanding of the human body and medicine “cannot be understated.” He said Ric had “redefined the scientific approach to studying the boundary between life and death” and provided a path toward key discoveries about the brain.
And incredibly, Ric’s contribution did not end with the research.
On that same day, Ric donated his organs, saving the lives of other patients.
So, in his final hours, Ric was simultaneously helping other people live and helping medicine better understand what happens when life ends.
And now, two years later, the research continues.
The work that began with Ric has developed into a broader research program. Dr. Sekhon’s research was subsequently published in Nature Medicine, providing an important scientific platform for continuing this work and investigating questions that remain unanswered.
For our family, seeing the research move from that extraordinary day with Ric to a published scientific study has been incredibly meaningful. It also creates an opportunity for the research to attract additional collaborations and potentially significant future funding, allowing researchers to continue building on what Ric helped make possible.
What Ric helped begin is not finished. It is just beginning to grow.
There is another important part of Ric’s legacy.
The Ric Harris ALS Research Studentship, managed by the ALS Society of BC, provides undergraduate students with an opportunity to explore their interest in ALS and related disorders research through a summer project supervised by a Motor Neuron Disease clinician or the Research Manager at the UBC Hospital ALS & Related Disorders Clinic.
For our family, this is a particularly meaningful way to carry Ric’s legacy forward. He faced ALS, participated in unprecedented medical research, and gave the gift of life through organ donation. Now, his name is helping support the next generation of researchers who may one day make discoveries that change the lives of people living with ALS and related disorders.
⛳ We are also holding The Ric Harris Legacy Scramble at Blue Ocean Golf Club in Sechelt on September 25. It will be a 9-hole afternoon bringing friends, family and community members together to remember Ric, have some fun and support the studentship. Net proceeds will benefit the Ric Harris ALS Research Studentship.
INFO at https://facebook.com/events/1095741046126557
But the golf tournament is really only one small part of what I believe is the bigger story.
It is the story of a local Sechelt man who, in the face of ALS, chose to give back — participating in first-of-its-kind medical research, giving the gift of life through organ donation, and leaving a legacy that is now helping support future ALS research.
It is also a story about how one person's willingness to participate in research can have an impact far beyond their own lifetime.
Ric’s life ended, but his contribution to medicine, to other families, and to future generations did not.
More information about the studentship can be found here:
Ric Harris ALS Research Studentship — ALS Society of BC
https://www.alsbc.ca/programs-services/ric-harris-als-research-studentship
PLEASE keep comments and conversations civil and respectful 👇 NO H8
: Ric Harris submitted courtesy Mary Basas.
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