 Terry Fox Jeremy Gilbert / [Public domain] via Wikimedia |
Terry Fox lost his leg to cancer when he was a teenager. While in the hospital going through chemo, he was affected by the amount of suffering in the cancer ward and decided that, in his words, "Somewhere the hurting must stop." He decided to run across Canada to raise funds for cancer research here in Canada. During this run, the "Marathon of Hope," Fox ran 28-30 miles per day on one real leg and one artificial leg.
Halfway across, outside Thunder Bay Ontario, the cancer spread to his lungs. A few months later he died. He lifted a nation through his courage and tenacity. To this day, every first weekend in September there is a Terry Fox Run. There is also a mountain named after him in the Canadian Rockies and a huge memorial to him outside Thunder Bay.
Peter Sheremeta wrote to My Hero:
"I am the Provincial Director for the Terry Fox Foundation in the province of Quebec, Canada. We are the people who coordinate the 5,500 Terry Fox Runs on the planet. The event which is held in honour of Terry Fox is officially called the 'Terry Fox Run.' The 'Run for the Cure' is another event which is completely independent of the 'Terry Fox Run.' The Terry Fox Run is not only about raising funds for cancer research, but also preserving the dream and integrity of Terry Fox himself."
Page created on 7/11/2015 3:34:49 PM
Last edited 5/28/2021 10:27:46 PM
Click here to listen to the Terry Fox story
* Chris from Irving, Texas wrote:
Tomorrow is the annual Terry Fox run here in Irving, Texas. I never knew anything about Terry Fox except that once a year a BUNCH of runners run past my house in a run sponsored in his name. I'd learned he had cancer and figured it was some wealthy relations that kicked up this event in his memory. Tonight I did an Internet search on Terry Fox and one of the things that popped up was Andy's 'My Hero' story. This is where I learned Terry's story. I am not surprised that he is a lot of people's hero! I want to thank your site and hope you can get my e-mail forwarded to Andy so he can see that, indeed, Americans as far south as Dallas, Texas, have heard of Terry Fox. Every year we sit out front and cheer the runners on. This year I'm going to put up flags in his honor and next year, if I can find a poster of Terry Fox, I'll put that out too...as an inspiration to all the participants. Thanks y'all for your part in enlightening me about TF. I wish I could muster up half the initiative, courage and pure tenacity that man must've had!
* Robert DELOGNE organised a Terry Fox run in 97-98 in the little village of Alle sur Semois (Belgium). He wrote:
In 1997 there were 375 runners who raised 10,750 cad$. In 1998 there were 543 runners who raised 21,000cad$. People who join the TERRY FOX runs all over the world help to move forward the search for a cancer cure. His legacy lives on in the efforts of all those inspired to carry on with his work.
* Alex S. wrote:
Terry was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1958. In 1977, Terry was diagnosed with cancer and they amputated his right leg. Terry decided to fight back. The Marathon of Hope started on April 12, 1980 to 1981. He ran over 2,128 miles in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. In Ottawa and Thunder Bay there is a monument. Terry made people's lives better and his name lives on. The reason I chose Terry is because he encouraged me to run in the Terry Fox Run which raised over one millon dollars.
