Terry Fox

By Tom Kirvan

Terry Fox was a little-known teenager from British Columbia when he was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1977, forcing the amputation of his right leg some six inches above the knee.

While hospitalized, Fox was so overcome by the suffering of other cancer patients – many of them under 10 years of age – that he decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research.

And run he did, from April 12 to September 1, 1980, covering approximately 26 miles a day through Canada’s Atlantic provinces of Newfoundland, Quebec, and Ontario. His journey, which captivated a nation, came to a stop when the cancer spread to his lungs. Ten months later on June 28, 1981, he passed away at the age of 22, a heroic Canadian whose legacy was just beginning in what he labeled the “Marathon of Hope.”

Born on July 28, 1958, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Fox was a distance runner and basketball player during his teen years, earning “Athlete of the Year” honors as a senior in high school. After his cancer surgery, he became a standout in the sport of wheelchair basketball, helping his team win three straight national titles in Canada.

And yet, when he set his mind on raising funds for cancer research, Fox turned back to the sport of running – even if he would have to endure the difficulty of doing so with a prosthetic leg.

Terry Fox*

“I want to try the impossible to show that it can be done,” said Fox as he began his quest.

“Even if I don’t finish, we need others to continue,” he declared. “It’s got to keep going without me.”

And it has: as the annual Terry Fox Run, to be held this year on September 20 all across Canada, has raised more than $1 billion for cancer research since the event’s inception 46 years ago.

“I just wish people would realize that anything’s possible if you try,” Fox said a year before his death. “Dreams are made possible if people try.”

*Editorial credit: Pascal Huot / Shutterstock.com