Terry Fox is a familiar name and until I watched the movie about him on the HBO channel yesterday, then I know the story behind the name. He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and was raised in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada. After losing his leg at age 18 to osteogenic sarcoma, the young athlete decided to run from coast to coast in order to raise money for cancer research. Beginning by dipping his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean at St. John's, Newfoundland on April 12, 1980, he aimed to dip it again in the Pacific Ocean at Vancouver, British Columbia. His pace was daunting. He ran an average of 42 km a day — the distance of a typical marathon.
He could not finish his run, however, as the cancer spread to his lungs and he was forced to abandon the course on September 1, 1980 just west of Thunder Bay after running 5373 km over 143 straight days through Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. He died several months afterwards at the age of 22. However, his Marathon of Hope captured the nation's attention. He was proclaimed a national hero, and the annual Terry Fox Run events organized all across Canada, in the United States, and in other countries around the world, have raised more than $360 million for cancer research.
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