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I want to set an example that will never be forgotten — Terry Fox
Prior to losing his right leg to cancer at the age of 18, Terry Fox was an average high school student. From a very young age, he was passionate about sports. He played baseball in elementary school and by the time he was in Junior High, he was set on being part of the basketball team. By the end of high school, he had played basketball, cross-country running, soccer, and rugby. In grade 12, he was the recipient of his school's Athlete of the Year award.
However, by the time he was eighteen, he was diagnosed with bone cancer, which began at high knee. It was decided that his best chance at survival was amputation followed by what resulted in 16 months of treatment.
By the end of the treatments, Terry couldn't ignore all the pain and suffering he'd been a witness of in the hospitals. After leaving the treatment facility, unfortunately being one of the only survivors, he felt a sense of responsibility. He decided he would run across Canada to raise awareness and try to find a cure for cancer.
Terry ran up to 42 kilometers a day through Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario, stopping in more than 400 places to talk about why he was doing his Marathon of Hope. His goal was to raise one dollar per Canadian to fund cancer research.
Image Source: https://terryfox.org/terrys-story/
Terry ran up to 42 kilometers a day through Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario, stopping in more than 400 places to talk about why he was doing his Marathon of Hope. His goal was to raise one dollar per Canadian to fund cancer research.
However, after 143 days on the road, having run 5,373 kilometers, he was forced to stop outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario as the cancer had reached his lungs. He promised he would come back to finish the marathon, and finish running to the other side of the country, but he was unable to return.
By February 1981, less than a year after the marathon began, he had completed his goal by raising 24.17 million dollars. Unfortunately, he passed away in June of the same year, however Terry wasn't forgotten. More than forty years after the start of the Marathon, Terry Fox runs are still around in schools all around the country. He remains an icon for cancer research, hope, perseverance, courage, and dedication.
To this day, more than 850 million dollars have been raised thanks to Terry Fox, and engaged citizens all around Canada. The funds raised go towards the research of dozens of scientists around the country, helping them examine specific cancers such as lung and prostate cancer.
Terry Fox once said "I want to set an example that will never be forgotten”, and in that, he succeeded.
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