Terry Fox

My hero is Terrance Stanley Fox. Terry Fox is my hero because when he had to get his right leg amputated, he felt sorrier for the other cancer patients, so he decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. Also, I chose him because he never wanted to be famous. Terry fox raised more than $360 million for cancer research. Since the day he died, people still raise money for cancer and run in the Terry Fox Run. He is my hero because of his courage throughout his battle with cancer and for his strength to never give up.

Terry started his run in St. John’s, Newfoundland on April 12, 1980. Terry Fox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and raised in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, a community near Vancouver on Canada's west coast. Terry Fox was an active teenager and he played many sports. When Terry Fox was 18 years old, the doctors found out that he had cancer in his right leg. He was forced to get his right leg amputated. When Terry was in the hospital, he saw the other cancer patients and many of them were young, so he decided to run across Canada to help raise money for cancer. Every different place he went, he stopped to make a speech to explain that he was raising money for cancer and he wanted everyone to donate at least one or two dollars.

One day on September 1st, after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres, Terry was forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario because the cancer went into his lungs. An entire nation of people felt sorry for Terry Fox. Terry passed away on June 28, 1981 at age 22. That Canadian was gone, but it was just the beginning. More than $360 million has been raised through the annual Terry Fox Run held across Canada and around the world.

Each year, thousands of volunteers organize the Terry Fox Run events in Canada and all around the world. In Canada, the annual Terry Fox Run is held every September, usually on the second Sunday. The run is a non-competitive event where people get together by themselves, as families and in groups to raise money in Terry’s name. It is a day of celebrating Terry’s helping hand to keep his dream of a cure for cancer alive. As Terry said in 1980, “If you’ve given a dollar, you are part of the Marathon of Hope .”

Terry has been honoured in a number of ways - the Order of Canada, a postage stamp, the Terry Fox Memorial, schools, a mountain, a movie - but his greatest achievement is the annual Terry Fox Run which is held in many cities across Canada and around the world to continue to raise funds to cure cancer.