Terry Fox

When I was 18 I was told that I had cancer. The doctors were going to amputate my leg 6 inches above my knee. Before the operation I read a magazine that an amputee ran the New York marathon. I thought that if he could run the New York marathon I could run a marathon a day. That is how the marathon of hope started. I trained for 18 months and ran 5373 kilometers (3,339 miles) in 143 days just for training. My dad helped by making a track for me to run on. When I was running I fell a lot of times but soon i got the hang of running.

When 1980 came I announced that I was going to across Canada on my prosthetic leg to raise money for cancer funds and to start awareness of cancer research. Things were not easy at the beginning but the more who found out about my efforts the more money was raised for cancer research. My dream was to raise one dollar from every Canadian to help save those kids who had cancer and in the hospital. I was one of the lucky people who had a chance to continue their life. When I was running I felt a mixture of feelings because when I started to run for the kids in the hospital then they started to care about the sick kids in the hospital.

I needed to stop the run in Thunder Bay because I was having trouble breathing. When I got to the hospital they told me that I have cancer in my lungs. I died in June 28, 1981 a year after I have started the run.

The character trait that I show is bravery because I was running in the snow and rain to help find a cure for cancer. My other character trait that I also show is helping out. I help out by trying to get a cure for cancer to help the kids in the hospital.

I did not complete the marathon of hope. About a year after I passed away my wish of raising one dollar from every Canadian came true. Every Canadian donated at least one dollar for cancer research. Every year they hold a run called the Terry Fox Run to continue my dream of stopping cancer.