Eva's Story

Eva Markvoort spent her life with cystic fibrosis, and her mission was finding a cure.

Eva Markvoort is the inspiration that drives Lawn Summer Nights.

In December 2008, Duncan Gillespie, Andrew Dalik and Graham Dalik were in Sydney, Australia with film director Philip Lyall where a casual game of ‘Barefoot Bowls’ was extremely popular. During an afternoon of beers and bowls, they collectively vowed to bring this fun experience back to Canada. They wanted to organize it as an event, as an opportunity to bring people together.

Philip had brought along a rough cut of 65_RedRoses, a documentary he was working on at the time. The powerful film told the story of Eva Markvoort, a young Vancouver woman living with cystic fibrosis (CF). The group returned from their memorable day of lawn bowling to watch the film later that night. The idea to create a lawn bowling fundraiser in support of Eva and others living with cystic fibrosis was hatched on the spot.

On October 23, 2007, Eva underwent a double lung transplant. Eva’s surgery was part of an historic night for the Vancouver General Hospital, as they performed a record-setting 10 transplants in a 24-hour period. With her new lungs, Eva was given a new lease on life and after her recovery, she endeavoured to make people more aware of CF by blogging publicly about her life. Eva’s blog resonated with people around the world, and she garnered a huge following of friends and supporters.

Whenever Eva found herself spending extended time in the hospital having difficulty with her lungs, she longed to be outside breathing fresh air, spending time with old friends and making new ones. This is exactly what lawn bowling enabled her to do, so it was with the utmost satisfaction that she could participate in our inaugural year of Lawn Summer Nights.

Not long after lawn bowling finished that first summer, Eva’s body suddenly began rejecting her new lungs and she was forced back into the hospital. Never one to give up, she battled against all odds to stay alive in the hopes of getting another transplant. Sadly, Eva passed away on March 27, 2010. She was only 25 years old.

Eva was a truly magical person, and her legacy is only the beginning. Inspired by her life, her struggle and her story, we’re carrying on from where Eva left off; endeavouring to accomplish what she cared for the most – enjoying life, and finding a cure for CF.