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terry fox

by jessica from winnipeg

Terry Fox was a cancer victim. He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and raised in Port Coquitlan, British Columbia. When he was 18 he was diagnosed with Osteogenic Sarcoma which is bone cancer. He was forced to have his right leg amputated in 1977.

After he got his leg amputated he decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. After running 5,000 kilometres in 18 months to prepare for his journey, he would call his journey the "Marathon of Hope". On April 12th, 1980, he started his run beginning at St. Johns, Newfoundland, with only little fanfare. Although it was difficult to garner attention in the beginning, enthusiasm soon grew, and the money collected along his route began to mount. He ran 42 kilometres a day through Cananda's Atlantic provinces: Quebec and Ontario. It was a journey that Canadians never forgot.

Sadly, on September 1st, 1980, he ended his journey outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario, due to sharp pains in his chest and rough coughing. When he got to the hospital he had found out that the cancer had appeared in his lungs. An entire nation was stunned and saddened. Sadly, Terry Fox passed away on June 28th, 1981, at the age of 21.

To date, more than $330 million has been raised for cancer research in Terry's name through the annual Terry Fox Run held across Canada and the world.

I admire Terry Fox because he raised money for cancer research to help people across Canada and the world.

Page created on 8/9/2004 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 8/9/2004 12:00:00 AM

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