Thomas Hartle Leaves A Legacy of Hope

A memorial service will be held on Friday, September 6, for Thomas Hartle, the mild-mannered computer professional who quietly changed the history of psychedelic medicine in Canada after  receiving a diagnosis of metastatic colon cancer. His family has invited the public to join the memorial service on September 6 at 4 pm PDT by clicking on this link. 

Hartle, who died on August 16, ten years following his initial cancer diagnosis, was the first Canadian granted legal access to psilocybin under a program known as Section 56. The medicinal psilocybin experience relieved Hartle’s existential distress. In 2022 he told Lucid News that medicinal psilocybin “is the one thing that allows me to actually live my life and be present with my family and fully appreciate all of the experiences that I have left.” 

Although Hartle had personally benefited from his medicinal psilocybin treatment, he grew increasingly concerned about the other end-of-life patients in Canada who had not been granted access to psilocybin by Section 56. This slow-moving review process often took about a year, in some cases exceeding the length of time that the patient was expected to live.

So Hartle took Canada to court. He agreed to serve as the lead plaintiff in a legal challenge to ensure access to medicinal psilocybin. Although Hartle described himself as an “accidental activist,” his attorney, Paul Lewin of Lewin & Sagara LLP, the lead law firm in the challenge, diagrees. Lewin said Hartle became an activist because “Thomas Hartle was super brave.”

Hartle shared both his prognosis and his life expectancy with Lucid News in an email to this reporter: “My type of cancer has something like a 5-10% survival rate for 5 years. It kills most people within that 18 months, so in my case, that clock started ticking in April 2016. I have always been stage 4. At over 6 years in, I’m already living in ‘rarified air’ so to speak, and every day I wake up, it gets more rare.”

Stakes were raised for Hartle when he saw the Canadian government readily granting citizens  access to “medical assistance in dying ”through a law passed in 2016.  According to the Canadian Broadcast Company, in 2022 medically assisted deaths were 30 percent higher than the previous year and reached 4.1 percent of all deaths in Canada. 

Bemused by a bureaucracy that had slowed access to medicinal psilocybin down to a trickle of approvals, while fast-tracking decisions to grant “medical assistance” in dying, Hartle joked with this reporter: “How about some medical assistance in living?”

Lewin explained that the court challenge, which is still ongoing, argues that patient access to medicinal psilocybin is a constitutional right guaranteed by Canada’s charter, their equivalent to the U.S. Constitution, providing for “life, liberty, and security of person,” to all Canadians. Lewin noted, “It is not easy suing the government, but Thomas did it without hesitation.”

Lewin added, “I will remember Thomas as an eloquent, fearless fighter for justice who made Canada better.”

But Hartle described himself to Lucid News in far simpler terms: ”I’m a really, really ordinary person from a small town in Saskatchewan, but I am stepping forward because this action will, one day, help other patients. …I wouldn’t want them to have to go through as much trouble as this just to live without anxiety.”

Remembering Hartle

That typical understated modesty is what Michael Kydd of Nova Scotia finds most memorable about Hartle. Kydd admired Hartle “not just because of the legal battles he fought, but because of the grace and humility with which he navigated those challenges.” Following an initial diagnosis of colon cancer, Hartle endured surgery and 12 rounds of chemotherapy. A few years after being deemed “cancer free,” doctors discovered the cancer had again metastasized, and that the 42 new tumors found throughout his abdomen and intestines were deemed inoperable. 

And yet, observed Kydd, Hartle’s “journey was not merely a quest for his own relief but a pioneering effort to pave the way for others facing similar challenges. Thomas became a symbol of what is possible when we confront our deepest fears with an open mind and a courageous heart. His advocacy was never about personal gain; it was about offering hope to those who felt lost in the face of terminal illness. He took on this cause for thousands, never asking for anything in return.”

If Hartle never asked for anything, Kydd, a passionate advocate for health access, has no such hesitation. Kydd is now working to establish the Thomas Hartle Memorial Fund. Monies raised will go toward helping to cover funeral expenses and as a donation to TheraPsil, the Canadian patient advocacy group that originally supported Hartle and helped him apply for access for medicinal psilocybin.

TheraPsil’s CEO Spencer Hawkswell hailed Hartle as “one of the most compassionate patient advocates Canada has ever seen.” Hawkswell added that “Hartle did not stop at accessing psilocybin for himself. He had to make it available for all Canadians in need. His selflessness drove him to tirelessly advocate for patients and healthcare professionals alike.”

One of those patients, Steve Allgood, counted Hartle as a friend. Their paths first crossed after Allgood, then 28, discovered he had cancer just two days before his wedding. Diagnosed with a rare, deadly brain cancer known as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) that has a less than one percent survival rate, Allgood’s doctors estimated his life expectancy as nine to 18 months. Worse than the large tumor pressing on his brainstem and spinal cord was the crippling distress and anxiety. “Because I was so locked in my head, even though I was still alive, I felt I couldn’t live,” said Allgood.

Allgood was encouraged by his wife and mother-in-law to research psychedelic medicine to treat his end of life existential distress. His application for Section 56 access was granted. Yet it was Hartle’s friendship and encouragement that seemed to light his path forward. He recalled, “Me seeing a guy with a big smile on his face, that’s what gave me hope.”

Hartle encouraged Allgood to understand that palliative psilocybin “isn’t just a mind-altering drug.” Allgood explained, “This is a medicine that restores you to life and allows you to fully inhabit every moment, without hesitation or fear, even with the knowledge of what’s ahead.”

Allgood noted that medicinal psilocybin “allowed me to be present in the moment and be present for my kids, so my wife and I can continue to raise our family.”

“Thomas was my inspiration,” Allgood recounted. It was Hartle’s willingness to go public about palliative psilocybin that offered him hope. “If Thomas had just stayed quiet I wonder if I would have had this chance to heal.” 

Thomas Hartle is survived by his children, Danika and Taran, his wife, Marliss, his mother Elizabeth, and brother Kelly. He was 56.