Terry Fox

This is a picture of Terry Fox! (I drew it!)

My hero is Terry Fox! He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in about 1959! He was raised in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia near Vancouver!

He was 18 when he got osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) and got his right leg amputated 15 centimeters above the knee. When Terry was in the hospital he saw many other patients with cancer and many of them were young children! It was then Terry decided to run across Canada to raise money for them. He would call his journey the Marathon of Hope.

When 18 months of running over 5,000 kilometers to prepare, Terry started his run in St. John’s, Newfoundland on April 12, 1977 with little fans. It was very hard to get attention at the beginning, it eventually grew bigger and bigger and the money that was collected began to pile up. He ran 42 kilometers a day through Canada’s Atlantic Provinces, Ontario and Quebec.

It was a journey Canadians never forgot. But, on September 1st, after 143 days and 5,373 kilometers, Terry was forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario, because the cancer appeared in his lungs. Everyone was sad and surprised. He passed away June 28th 1981 when he was 22.

Terry Fox is my hero because he was determined and he never gave up! He kept going on until he couldn’t, and even though the pain was hurting him, he still tried! He taught me not to give up or stop believing in yourself because everything is possible, if you do your best and trust yourself! So, that is why Terry Fox is my hero!