Terry Fox

Terry Fox

A hero is someone who is an average person, but does something unselfish to help others. A hero has courage to follow his dreams.

Terry Fox is that kind of hero. He did the Marathon of Hope, not to become rich or famous but to raise money for cancer research. He really wanted people to become more aware that we need to raise money to do research to find a cure for such a terrible disease.

Terry Fox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on July 28, 1958. He was raised in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. He had two brothers and one sister. He liked all sports and he was very competitive. When he first started playing basketball, he wasn’t very good, but he kept on practicing until he got better and better. When Terry finished high school, he went to Simon Fraser University and played basketball there.

In 1977, when Terry Fox was 18 years old, he was diagnosed with cancer and he had to have his right leg amputated six inches above the knee. Even though Terry had only one leg, he saw lots of children who were very sick with cancer and he decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research to help other people. After running over 5000 km the cancer went to his lungs forcing him to stop running. He died on June 28, 1981 at the young age of 22.

The reason Terry is our hero is that even though he is gone his legacy lives on and on. He has inspired us to do the Terry Fox Run every year in honor of his memory. Canadians will never forget Terry Fox.