Terry Fox

816 Words2 Pages

Many have heard of the name Terry Fox in Canada as he is a national icon. What allowed him to be so great, so famous in Canada? Was it because he was a cancer activist or because of the huge idea to run across Canada? I believe it is both. Terrance Stanley Fox or Terry fox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on July 28 1958. He was one of four children.
Throughout his childhood and teenage years Terry has shown strong determination to achieve his goals. As a child Terry had always wanted to play basketball for his school. Unfortunately, he was not very good at this sport. He practiced until in eighth grade when he made the basketball team. His coach advised him to take up a different sport such as running or soccer due to his short height. Although …show more content…

This pain was initially thought as pain received when Terry got into a car accident four months earlier but should have disappeared within that time. When the doctors decided to x-ray his knee they confirmed the pain was because of a type of bone cancer. The doctor said his best course of action was to cut off his right leg to prevent the spreading of cancer cells. After the operation, Terry continued to receive cancer treatment to be on the safe side as well as go through physiotherapy as he had to walk around with a new amputated …show more content…

This is when he wanted to do something for those with cancer, to give them hope. After reading about another man with an amputation that ran a marathon, Terry decided to run across the country to raise awareness for cancer as he had taken up running in his earlier life. He started his training, taking it step by step, slowly increasing the amount he runs per day. Finally, in 1980 he started the Marathon of Hope. He started by dipping his right leg into the Atlantic Ocean in St. Johns, Newfoundland and ran. At first nobody really knew what he was doing or why. He had raised little money and had to fight against extreme conditions. To uplift his spirits a town in Newfoundland donated ten thousand dollars and the CEO of the large company Sharp offered to donate two dollars for every mile Terry ran. Once he made it to Ontario, many knew about his marathon and many often ran with him if they saw him. He met with many of Canadian celebrities including the Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, Bobby Orr and Darryl Sittler. The latter of the 3 donated as well.
Sadly, on September 1st, Terry had to stop his marathon as cancer had infected his lungs. He went back to British Columbia to get treatment. Less than a year later he had died due to the cancer in his lungs. Although he may have died his given those with cancer hope again with the amount of money raised for cancer research.

Open Document