How do you start a column about a young man taking his own life? There’s no witty line that can kick off something like this and there’s no good way to transition into this, so I’m not going to try.
I never got a chance to talk with Sam Mercer — and it’s something I will regret for a long time.
While the Journal Tribune doesn’t technically cover Scarborough High School, I knew Sam’s story would be a great addition to our sports section.
Sam, who was born in Ethiopia, lost his left leg due to an infection when he was less than a month old. He would end up in an orphanage when he was 6 and his first adoptive American parents gave him up after just three years. He would bounce around foster homes and schools in Colorado for years before Dan Mercer met Sam and brought him to Scarborough last year.
I got to watch Sam wrestle at the Spartan Wrestling Annual Tournament in early January and I immediately thought I would like to talk with him and tell his story.
While I was interested in doing something on Sam, I quickly realized that the Press Herald’s Steve Craig had just done a story on Mercer — and it was an incredible piece — so it made sense to at least wait a little bit before doing another one.
Obviously, the rest of the wrestling season came and went and I never took the time to interview Sam and tell his story to the Journal Tribune’s readers.
I certainly regret never getting the chance to speak with Sam, but I was lucky enough to watch him wrestle on several occassions and it’s something I’ll always remember. Despite having only one leg, he was a talented wrestler and, most importantly, had more heart than pretty much any athlete I’ve covered in my 18-year career.
His determination and heart was evident every time he stepped onto the mat. Sam would battle for six minutes and never backed down — whether he was winning or fighting off his back against a more talented wrestler.
Like I said, I didn’t know Sam Mercer other than watching him wrestle but when I heard what happened it stopped me in my tracks.
I’m not exactly sure why it seems to have affected me so much, but I believe it’s because when something like this happens you realize it could happen to anyone. It makes you think: Is there someone I’m close with who is having these thoughts? How can you detect the warning signs and help them before it’s too late?
I don’t have those answers, and I’m not sure if they are out there. All any of us can do is try to be there for our friends and family and hope they will let us know if something is wrong.
And all we can do right now is send our thoughts and prayers to Sam’s family and his friends, both in Scarborough and throughout the Maine wrestling family.
This is a heartbreaking situation and most times people would shy away from talking about what happened, but Dan Mercer has made the courageous choice to share Sam’s entire story.
Dan had a message for anyone contemplating suicide during an interview with WMTW-TV, “To choose life. To hang on, that there will be another day and the day will come when they say, ‘I’m so glad that I did not make that choice.’ And perhaps they can remember my son and say, ‘thank you, Sam.’”
Sam may have only been in Maine for one year, but it’s obvious that he made an impact on everyone he met, and he was truly an inspiration to anyone who got a chance to see him step on the mat. Hopefully his story — even with its tragic ending — will continue to touch people and possibly help someone when they are struggling.
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.
If you or anyone you know is battling depression or has had suicidal thoughts, help is available at the Maine Crisis Hotline at 888-568-1112, and state resources are also available by calling 211 in Maine.
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