The remains of an Irish cyclist were being flown home this weekend three weeks after he left his hotel in Thailand to go cycling but never came back.
John Martyn, who was from Ballinderreen, Co Galway, and
was on holidays in Thailand, was involved in a crash with a motorist while
cycling on February 9th.
Tragically he died from his injuries in hospital and
because he was not carrying any identification the authorities were not able to
identify him.
The 42-year-old was living and working in Beijing as a
counselor in a school and had extended his cycling holiday in Thailand due to
the coronavirus outbreak back in China.
He was due to check out of his hotel in Thailand on February 16th and when he failed to do so concern for him increased.
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Even before then, when nothing was heard from him cycling
groups in Thailand began appealing for information on his whereabouts.
All of his personal items were still in his hotel room but Mr Martyn and his Trek Madone bike were missing.
Singha Tsukemen 55 Cycling Club launched an appeal and in their last appeal they asked if other
cyclists in an area near Chiang Mai had seen Mr Martyn.
“Help us find our cycling buddy Irish national John Martyn last seen in Chiang Mai,” the club’s appeal stated.
“John is 42, a strong rider - both road and MTB - around 170cm tall with a thin athletic build. Brown hair and blue eyes.
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“He lives in Beijing, working in education and was
visiting Chang Mai for a riding holiday. John is a well liked rider, friendly
and an avid traveler.
“We, his cycling buddies from across the world, are
concerned for him and hope that we can use the cycling social media networks
that bind us together to help out a fellow cyclist.
“Please share this information to anyone in the Thai
cycling scene in the hope we can track him down.”
The club also shared photos of him in some of the Asian
cycling kit he regularly rode in as well as his An Post-Chainreaction jersey.
While the Thai cycling community was appealing for
information and looking for Mr Martyn, the authorities had failed to identify
him as the victim of the road traffic crash.
Eventually Mr Martyn’s remains were identified, but not until 11 days after he died as a result of the injuries he sustained in the crash descending a mountain road.
This weekend he was making his last journey home ahead of
his funeral early next week.
The deceased man’s death notice says he was predeceased by his only sibling; his brother Gerald.
It added Mr Martyn would be sadly missed and remembered with much love by his parents PJ and Bernie, grandmother Katie Martyn, and all of his family, friends and colleagues.
His remains will be reposing at the Corless Funeral Home,
Kinvara, next Wednesday, March 4th, from 4.30pm until 7.30pm.
Requiem Mass takes place on Thursday, March 5th, in St
Colman’s Church, Ballinderreen, at 12 noon, followed by interment in Drumacoo
Cemetery.
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