October 5th, 1981 — May 27th, 2004
Eulogy by Bryce Alexander
You were my best mate and a good friend to many of the staff and students here today in physiotherapy and at Ormond. I'm honored to have been such a close friend to Adrian and to speak in his memory today.
In a lifetime you don't meet many people as modest, genuine and as caring as Adrian. His enthusiasm, smile and the way he embraced every opportunity, as well as being always cheerful and happy, is why he was so close to so many people here today. It was hard not to like Adrian — he brought out the best in people.
I will cherish all the times over the past 4 1/2 years we shared in physio, in these walls here at college and the end of physio trip to Coffs Harbour.
Your strongest characteristic was that you were passionate about life and excelled in all you set your mind to. We were blessed to share the so many admirable & beautiful qualities Ade possessed. Adrian always stood up for what he believed in. He always stuck by his values.
He will also be remembered for his physical prowess, academia and impeccable manners. All of these qualities are a great reflection on his family. There is nobody else I know who would wake at 5:30am to hit the college gym - & had his own key cut because he arrived before the security guard had done his rounds to open up. Or the morning he came late to breakfast & when asked said he had ran 3 laps of the Cross Country training track - 21km, in under 2hrs — in training for a half marathon. The word incredible and incredibly motivated comes to mind, and he wouldn't have mentioned it unless asked. He captained the Cross Country team & came 4th in the Intercollegiate Cross Country, & ran with his perfect bounding style in the aths. He is the fittest person I've known. And he'd often ride 66km in to Uni and work at Nike.
He was also extremely studious. He worked as hard as he could and had so much potential as a physiotherapist, his chosen career. I have no doubt he would have made an excellent sports physiotherapist as this is something he had set his mind to.
But it is the simple things I know I will miss the most — meeting at the gate or bottom of the stairs before going to meals or walking to class with Amy, Sara & I; lunch in hall; times at formal dinners & smokos; posing for ‘the boys’ photos; to the physio balls; wearing that wig; his willingness to volunteer in physio lectures and pracs; to his wardrobe of nike gear & pile of shoes under his bed. He rarely walked through a door opened by someone else. To Ames, Ade & my ‘library crawls’ — returning all our books, arms and bags full, after an assignment; & holding the Ormondian delivery record — where he'd worked out the fastest route to each room and had technique down-pat where he'd kick them so he didn't have to bend down when timing himself. And to stories of Ade playing the piano for the elderly at lunchtime on his gerontology clinic.
For those who didn't know him very well they may have thought he was too nice, but he was genuine & it was just the person he was. Ademan, we shared many good times mate. I want to thank-you for your friendship and enriching your friends and my life.
You will be sadly missed by all that knew you.
Bryce Alexander