‘An incredible human being’: Friends remember Dr. Darren Markland at downtown Edmonton coffee meet

Friends and family of Dr. Darren Markland gathered on Friday for the weekly "coffee outside" group he started to honour his memory. Jeremy Thompson reports.

Dozens of people gathered at a downtown Edmonton park on Friday morning to honour Dr. Darren Markland, a well-known ICU physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

Dr. Markland, 54, died last Sunday, his family said in an obituary. A 54-year-old man from Edmonton was killed in a mountain bike crash near Nordegg last Sunday.

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Several people from the medical and biking communities got together at Constable Ezio Faraone Park for Coffee Outside, a meet Dr. Markland started years ago.

Dr. Markland, born in Rimbey and raised in Stony Plain, was known for his love of the outdoors, biking and coffee.

He was described as joyous and bright despite having a stressful and difficult job.

“(He) really brought out the best in people. Always happy to see you every morning,” Aaron Budnick with the YEG Bike Coalition said.

“He had one of the hardest jobs imaginable, saving people’s lives, especially with all of the challenges with health care right now. He was worked to the bone and you never knew that talking to him, he just had so much energy and so much vibrancy.

“He was just an incredible human being. He’ll be missed.”

Raj Bhardwaj was Dr. Markland’s roommate during medical school in Calgary. He reminisced about their times together, laughed about how many of their stories “are not publishable,” and marveled about the mark he left on the community.

“We were supposed to grow old together, and I’m really mad that we’re not,” he said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Markland became a frequent face on the news to offer his expertise on the disease and the health-care crisis.

Bhardwaj praised his leadership during a difficult time, and said Dr. Markland would’ve preferred not to be “in the limelight.”

Dr. Lynora Saxinger, a University of Alberta Hospital infectious disease physician, faced a similar challenge during the pandemic.

“There’s almost a bit of informal support to each other,” she told reporters Friday morning. “I really think that he touched a lot of people through his social media (with) eloquence, personal reflections, as well as the science stuff and his own opinions and advocacy.”