Terry Fox

hero web (I made it)

Hello and welcome to my Canadian hero web page about Terry Fox. Terry’s full name was Terrance Stanley Fox. Terry was born in Winnipeg Manitoba and grew up in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. Terry’s mother’s name is Betty and his father’s name is Rolly. Terry’s mom is a homemaker and also worked part-time in a card shop. Terry’s dad Rolly worked for the Canadian National Railway as a Switchman. Terry had two brothers and one sister. His older brother’s name is Fred, his younger brother’s name is Darrell and his youngest sister’s name is Judith. A special Event that happened in Fred, Darrel and Judith’s lives was their brother Terry decided he was going to run a marathon across Canada to raise money for Cancer. Terry wanted to be a physical education teacher to teach his students some of his favorite sports.

terry fox running (I made it)

Terry’s life was remarkable because he tried to run a marathon across Canada to raise money to help find a cure for cancer. He hoped to raise $1.00 for every Canadian citizen for cancer. Another thing that was very remarkable about Terry was that he had one real leg and one prosthetic leg. I think Terry’s admirable because he tried to raise money for a disease that kills thousands of people every year. Terry was very admirable because he only had one real leg and set out to run a marathon while he was in so much pain. In 143 days that Terry ran, he accomplished something that most healthy people only dream of doing. Some of the qualities that best describe Terry are as follows: Selfless: Terry was selfless because he devoted himself fully to what he believed in, Determined: Terry Fox was determined because he never gave up in pursuing his goal, Kind: Terry Fox was kind because he gave all the money he raised to the Cancer Society, Courageous: Terry Fox was courageous because he set out to achieve a goal that was considered by many people to be impossible, Accomplishing: Terry accomplished what he set out to do. To make Canadians aware of the need to raise money for Cancer research, Caring: Terry Fox was a caring person because after witnessing the suffering of others in the Cancer Ward at the hospital, he decided to help in his own words “somewhere the hurting must stop…I was determined to take myself to the limit for this cause” and he set out to run the marathon of hope in the hope of finding a cure for cancer and stop the suffering of others, Athletic: All through High School and University Terry was very much involved in all sports such as basketball, ruby, soccer, diving and baseball. He competed in track and field and most of all he ran the average distance of one marathon (26 miles) for 143 consecutive days with one real leg and one prosthetic leg while running his Marathon of Hope. A feat that very few people in the world could accomplish and Risk-taking: Terry Fox was a risk-taking person because he put his own health and body at risk while running the Marathon of Hope in order to help others.

I believe that the human qualities that Terry had that mostly influenced his life were caring and determination. He cared deeply about the well being of others and was very determined to achieve his goal, no matter what the weather conditions were like or how much pain he was in. Terry had two qualities that were most troubling and difficult for him. These two qualities were he was stubborn and had a temper. Terry got very upset if he did not accomplish his daily goals that he had set for himself. At times it was difficult for Terry to raise money from corporations. He insisted to raise money from corporations for support and not to be exploited (i.e. no logos on his clothes or any other forms of advertised sponsorship). Companies would back away from giving large amounts of donations, as Terry would refuse to use their logos. However, Terry’s quality or trait that was most helpful for him during is marathon was that he never gave up and he was determined not to quit.

Some people including his mother Betty believed that Terry made a bad decision to run this marathon. They believed that if Terry had not run the marathon and put such a heavy strain on his lungs, perhaps the cancer would not have spread to his lungs. If I were in Terry’s shoes I probably would have done the same thing, but perhaps would have gotten better medical advise before starting to run the marathon. One thing I learned is that even though you have a major disability life does not have to be compromised. If you truly believe in yourself and in your goal you can achieve anything. You can make the world a better place by motivating others to help you achieve your goal. Some people say you can judge the quality of a person’s life by the enemies they make. This is not true of my hero’s life. Terry Fox as far as I know did not have any enemies and I don’t believe that you can judge people by the enemies they have. I believe you need to know a person before you can judge that person. Terry had many people in his life that provided him with guidance and encouragement. Terry’s parents and siblings, his teachers and his running coach all help to guide and encouraged Terry to pursue his dream. Even after Terry’s death, his family still keeps his dream alive. Their mission is to keep Terry’s dream alive by someday hopefully finding a cure for cancer. They believe strongly, just like Terry did, that Terry was not going to find a cure for cancer but he would try his hardest to make people aware of the disease and help to raise money for research to find the cure. Terry also believed that you could show that people with disabilities can do the same things that healthy people can do. Just because you have a disability it should not stop you from achieving your goals and dreams in life.

Terry Fox Coin (www.bbc.co.uk/.../images/terry-fox-doler.jpg)

I think if you’re a hero you’re someone very special that can accomplish many tasks and do things that not a lot of people would consider doing. Like Terry for instance, he ran a marathon for cancer while only having one leg, when not too many people that had two real legs would even think of doing. Hero’s are people that do extra- ordinary things for the well being of others. Terry Fox was definitely a hero because he ran a marathon to raise money for caner research. Terry not only had cancer, but was also in a lot of pain from it. This never stopped him. He still ran to help others. A healthy person had never considered taking on such a huge task. Run a marathon just to raise money to help people with this illness.

Terry was a hero. To me a person that tries very hard and unselfishly to help others and make the world a better place to live in is definitely a hero. If Terry had not set out to run a marathon across Canada, and had tried to just raise money for an illness shared with other Canadians, he would have only been known as the person who had one leg amputated because of cancer. That would have only made Terry a special person, not a hero. Terry, like others also had heroes in his life, they were the children who endured a lot of pain and were very courageous during their fight with cancer and always found a way to smile and cheer him on from Saint John’s, Newfoundland to Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Thunder Bay was where Terry’s dream came to an end. He became very sick with lung cancer and was flown home with his parents to New Westminster, British Columbia. Terry Fox died on June 28 1981 exactly one month before his 23rd birthday at the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, B.C. He died at 4:30 am, which was also his favorite time to start his run every morning during the marathon.

Terry’s whole family (his parents and his siblings) are alive and very much involved in the Marathon Of Hope foundation. This foundation continues to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Research Society. During Terry’s short life he received many awards and special recognitions. Some of them are as follows: The Order of Canada, Voted second as the greatest Canadian of all time, The Order of Dogwood which is the highest civilian award in BC, Lou Marsh Trophy of 1980, Canadian Newsmaker of the year 1980, a Canadian coast guard icebreaker is named “CCGS Terry Fox”, many schools throughout Canada are named after Terry Fox, in April 2005 a special edition of a Canadian dollar commemorating Terry Fox began circulating, Mount Terry Fox a summit of 2650 meters near Valemount, B.C. is named in his honor, in 1981 singer/songwriter Rod Stewart wrote a song as a tribute to Terry Fox Marathon of Hope titled “Never Give Up On A Dream”.

I chose this person to be my hero because although Terry Fox had what most people consider a major disability to run just one marathon, Terry ran a marathon every day for a 143 day, some days in very harsh weather conditions and most days in pain. Terry never gave up to achieve his goal. Throughout my research about Terry Fox and during writing this essay, I learned that even though someone may have a major disability, life doesn’t end. If you truly believe in a cause like Terry believed and devote yourself fully to that cause, your disability isn’t so important.

That concludes my report about My Hero Terry Fox.