Two brothers. One shared trip. A legacy bigger than both of them.
Life's A Trip began with two brothers who grew up together, challenged one another, and eventually built something together. When one brother's trip ended far too soon, the other kept building for both of them — and invited an entire community along for the ride.
The kind of person you never forget.
Liam Nugent was known as "Trip" to almost everyone. Kind, funny, and genuinely invested in the people around him — not loudly, but in the quiet, steady way the truly good ones are. He showed up without being asked.
A country boy at heart, he loved fishing, hunting, riding his ATV, and hockey — a constant in his life from age four to twenty-one. He was curious too: recently teaching himself guitar and keyboard, and studying business at Algonquin College, where he shared an entrepreneurial drive with his older brother, Ryan.
Read Trip's story on the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada's Light The Night site.
Ryan's number-one guy.
Trip was Ryan's only sibling, best friend, and business partner. While still in their early twenties, the brothers built the streetwear company Concrete Collective — even releasing a collaborative collection with the Ottawa Senators. The business gave them something bigger than a brand: a shared adventure and a friendship Ryan carries with him still.
"I always wanted to be the best so that he knew what that looked like. I think I'm still trying to do that."
Everything changed in the summer of 2019.
What looked like the flu became something far more serious. After several doctor visits, Trip went to a walk-in clinic on July 24, 2019 — bloodwork showed something was dangerously wrong. He was admitted and placed in isolation that same day.
On July 26, Trip was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Complications followed quickly. On August 27, 2019 — one month and one day after his diagnosis — Trip passed away. He was 21.
There was no business plan. Just a brother trying to keep moving.
In the family's first public message about Trip's passing, Ryan asked friends and community members to donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada in his honour. That single appeal raised approximately $12,000 — and showed Ryan just how many lives Trip had touched.
Within weeks, Ryan formally established Life's A Trip as a non-profit. About two months later, roughly 300 people gathered to celebrate what would have been Trip's 22nd birthday — raising more than $12,000 and setting a principle that still guides the foundation: people can celebrate a life, not just grieve it.
Life's a trip.
The name came naturally — Trip was Liam's nickname, but the words meant something larger. Life is unpredictable, exciting, difficult, and completely unbelievable, sometimes all at once. Some people are given a longer trip. Others are given one far too short. For Ryan, his family, and everyone who loved Trip, "Life's A Trip" was the only expression that could hold everything they'd just experienced — and a message that could belong to anyone.
Life's a trip. Just go with it. We're all on the ride together.
Turning community into measurable support.
Life's A Trip Foundation is a federally registered non-profit corporation that has generated approximately $45,000 in net proceeds since 2019 through community events, merchandise, and fundraising. The foundation chose the LLSC intentionally, after direct conversations with their team about the reach of their work. Contributions are unrestricted — supporting research, education, community services, and advocacy for people affected by blood cancer.
Figures current as of July 2026.
The goal is bigger than any one event.
Life's A Trip is building toward a future where Trip's name reaches far beyond Ottawa — larger community events, a growing merchandise line, and a defining goal: to raise as much as possible in Trip's honour. However large the foundation becomes, the work will stay creative, welcoming, and full of life — the way Trip would have wanted it.
If Trip could see this now, he wouldn't be surprised — just proud. That's what he always did: showed up, then made everyone around him better for it.
This foundation is Ryan doing the same thing, at a bigger scale, for as long as it takes. We did it together. We're still doing it together.
Help us keep building.
Trip's time here was far too short. The love he gave and the lives he touched didn't leave with him. Join us in carrying that legacy forward.
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