Terry Fox

http://homepage.oanet.com/jaywhy/terry.htm

On July 28, 1958 Betty and Rolly Fox gave birth to a little boy who would someday be known to all Canadians. The boy was Terrence Stanley Fox. He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba but was raised in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia with his two brothers and sister. Terry was involved in a lot of activities, especially basketball, before being diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma which is bone cancer. In 1977 he had to have his leg amputated. While Terry was in the hospital he noticed how many children were there because of cancer. He was blown away and decided to do something. That's when he decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer. He called this the Marathon of Hope. During his journey across Canada, he found out that the cancer had spread to his lungs. He had to stop running on September 1, 1980 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. On June 28, 1981, 22-year old Terry Fox passed away from cancer.

Terry Fox was a caring young man. He saw the faces of all those children in the hospital and wanted to do something to make a difference in their lives. He was so upset to see that many children suffering from cancer that he decided to run across Canada for these children and for himself. He wanted to raise enough money for cancer and he knew he could do it even with just one leg. He was also caring when it came to the race. He didn't do this to become famous. “I’m not doing the run to become rich or famous,” he said. He did this race for the future and for children who suffer from cancer. He did it for cancer research and he wanted to make a big difference.

"There were the faces with the brave smiles, and the ones who had given up smiling. There were the feelings of hopeful denial, and the feelings of despair... I could not leave, knowing these faces and feelings would still exist, even though I'd be set free of mine. Somewhere the hurting must stop," Terry Fox said that to sponsors when he was getting ready for his journey across Canada. He was talking about all those young children in the hospital and Terry Fox wanted to do something about it!

Terry Fox had a lot of courage also. He had cancer and yet he kept his spirits high and wanted to do something about cancer while he was still alive. Even though he had one leg he knew he could run across Canada and raise money. He had to have courage when battling the cancer. He could have given up on his life and just sat in bed everyday wondering why he had to have cancer, but he had the courage to actually do something and raise money. Running across Canada is a huge task, especially for a young man who had cancer and just one leg. I wouldn't be able to run across Canada and I have two legs and am not suffering from cancer. Terry Fox had the courage to show people what he could do.

Terry said: “Some people can’t figure out what I’m doing. It’s not a walk-hop, it’s not a trot, it’s running, or as close as I can get to running, and it’s harder than doing it on two legs. It makes me mad when people call this a walk. If I was walking it wouldn’t be anything.” It takes a lot of courage to try and make people understand what you are doing and Terry Fox showed people and made them understand.

http://www.guidingstar.ca/Terry_Fox_Run.htm

Terry Fox was very brave in his fight against cancer. He was a good basketball player and had a future in college basketball, but cancer got him and because of that he had to have his leg removed. To go through that much emotional and physical pain was very brave. Terry said, “I don’t feel that this is unfair. That’s the thing about cancer. I’m not the only one, it happens all the time to people. I’m not special. This just intensifies what I did. It gives it more meaning. It’ll inspire more people. I just wish people would realize that anything’s possible if you try; dreams are made possible if you try."

Terry had a brave face on all the time. He was brave in his understanding about cancer and its dangers. Terry was also brave while running across Canada. He had to make his story heard and had to make people realize what he was doing. During his race he accomplished that and now everyone in Canada knows who Terry Fox is and what he did to fight cancer. During the race Terry Fox found out that the cancer had spread to his lungs. Terry Fox wanted to keep going during the race to keep raising money and he kept going until he could no longer run. He was one really brave young man. He was brave when he found out he had cancer, but he was also very brave for the 143 days of his Marathon of Hope.

http://www.fave.ca/p027p01.htm

Terry Fox was a very caring and brave young man who had a lot of courage. He had all these traits during his fight against cancer, his life with cancer and his journey across Canada. For all these reasons, Terry is my hero. I have had relatives die of cancer and I think what Terry Fox did to try and make a difference was huge. People of different ages are dying from cancer. That's why, in my eyes, Terry Fox is a hero.