Everywhere he went, Calvin Ming Jr spread a powerful message: never take life for granted.
It’s a belief he likely embraced long before his life-saving heart and kidney transplants.
Born on December 5, 1947, Mr Ming was welcomed into the Salvation Army as a “fourth-generation Salvationist”.
He remained devoted to the Protestant Christian church and its international charitable mission, a commitment that likely influenced his career choice and inspired his advocacy for addicts.
“The legacy of his life and commitment to the ministry will remain with many people he encountered, both in Bermuda and around the world,” read part of a statement released by the church following Mr Ming’s death on January 1 last year.
COMMUNITY WORK
As a child, he struggled with dyslexia and left the island during high school to receive specialist teaching in New Jersey.
Mr Ming went on to study at Montclair State College and the American Academy McAllister Institute, where he took courses in business and earned a degree in mortuary science.
Back in Bermuda in 1977 he joined the prison service as the island’s first civilian financial administrative officer.
By 1983 he’d moved to the Ministry of Health and Social Services where he played a key role in establishing the National Alcohol and Drug Agency, eventually serving as its executive officer and founding the Youth to Youth drug awareness organisation. In the 1990s he joined the National Drug Commission.
HEART TRANSPLANT
In 1993, he became the island’s second heart transplant recipient after doctors discovered he had idiopathic ventricular cardiomyopathy, a condition that weakens and destroys the heart muscle.
He was fortunate to be gifted the heart of a 19-year-old high diver who lost his life while competing. Twenty years after surgery, Mr Ming told The Royal Gazette that he was always mindful of how his life had been saved through another family’s tragedy.
“Don’t ever take life for granted,” he said. “If you have the strength to do something, go ahead and do it — because you never know if you’ll have another chance. I live each day like today is my last. I’ve only got today, so I’ve got to do my best. Tomorrow is promised to no one.”
Surgeons had estimated the heart would extend his life by a maximum of ten years; they were unable to explain how he was still alive more than three decades after the surgery.
His son, Calvin Ming III, donated a kidney after the drugs Mr Ming took to keep his immune system from attacking the transplant caused kidney damage.
BAND LEADER
Despite the hurdle, Mr Ming stayed positive, continuing his performances on cornet and as band leader with the Salvation Army as it went around the island carolling at Christmastime.
He was also closely involved in planning the Christmas services for residents at the charity’s shelter and with the Harbour Light addiction programme. He also helped distribute Christmas hampers and toys for families in need.
“He was literally a gift. He fought hardship everywhere he faced, with dignity and humour,” his son told The Royal Gazette.
