Forty years ago, Terry Fox was no Canadian legend.
He was a 19-year-old cancer patient laying in a hospital bed the night before a surgery that would amputate his right leg above the knee, reading a copy of RunnerB次元官网网址檚 World that his high school basketball coach had given him.
On the cover: Dick Traum, an above-knee amputee and the first runner to complete the New York City Marathon with a prosthetic leg.
B次元官网网址淭erry, that night, dreamed of running across the country,B次元官网网址� said Darrell Fox, TerryB次元官网网址檚 younger brother. B次元官网网址淗e said, B次元官网网址業f this guy can run 26 miles on an artificial leg, then why canB次元官网网址檛 I?B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
The next 16 months of cancer treatment changed Terry irreversibly. The suffering that he witnessed during his time in the cancer ward would change him in ways he could never have predicted.
B次元官网网址淭erry would often say that he was almost glad that he had been diagnosed with cancer, because before the disease he was very self-centred,B次元官网网址� said Darrell. B次元官网网址淏ut by experiencing cancer, and by seeing the suffering of others, he realized he was missing something in his life. And that was giving back.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淗e wanted to act on that. ThatB次元官网网址檚 where the whole idea of the Marathon of Hope really came from, was from what Terry witnessed going through cancer and seeing the suffering of others. People passing away, and him asking, B次元官网网址榃hy arenB次元官网网址檛 we doing more about this?B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
Two years after his operation, Terry began to run again. He ran half-miles in the dark, when no one could see him.
He didnB次元官网网址檛 tell his family about his idea for a cross-country run. Not yet. First he had to convince himself that he was capable.
Prosthetics in the late 1970s were nowhere near as advanced as they are today. Terry ran on a modified walking leg and he had to take an extra hop on his left leg to allow his artificial leg to swing through. The pressure not only on his good leg but on his stump was intense.
B次元官网网址淗is feet and his toes were always a mess,B次元官网网址� said Darrell. B次元官网网址淏ut he learned to deal with pain. He looked at it rather simplistically. He always reflected on those that heB次元官网网址檇 left behind in the cancer ward and he knew that they lived with pain 24 hours a day.B次元官网网址�
READ MORE:
B次元官网网址淭hey didnB次元官网网址檛 have a switch. They couldnB次元官网网址檛 shut it off. Whereas Terry realized he could. At any moment he could stop running and his pain would go away. So that was always an inspiration for him and always motivated him to keep going, realizing that there were those out there that just didnB次元官网网址檛 have that option.B次元官网网址�
Terry ran every day for 101 days, until he could run 23 miles in a day. He ran more than 3,000 miles in preparation for the Marathon of Hope.
Terry finally told his family about his dream in 1979 after he completed a 17-mile race in Prince George.
He had finished the race in last place, but when he returned and told his family that he wanted to run across the country, it was a question of when, rather than how or why.
B次元官网网址淵ou just knew,B次元官网网址� said Darrell. B次元官网网址淢e, being a younger brother who admired his older brother and who knew the kind of person he was. If Terry Fox had said he was going to run around the world, I would have believed him.B次元官网网址�
A month later, Terry sent the Canadian Cancer Society a letter announcing his intention to run across Canada to raise money for the fight against cancer.
B次元官网网址淭he running I can do,B次元官网网址� he wrote. B次元官网网址淓ven if I have to crawl every last mile.B次元官网网址�
The Marathon of Hope
Darrell was 17-years-old when he flew across the country to join his older brother on the Marathon of Hope.
B次元官网网址淭here was no initial plan. I was in my final year of high school and it was late May B次元官网网址� I was just really excited that I was going to miss a month of high school,B次元官网网址� Darrell said, laughing.
B次元官网网址淣ot realizing, not understanding what I was about to be a part of,B次元官网网址� he said.
It was a surprise for Terry. He hadnB次元官网网址檛 known Darrell was going to join the marathon until he saw his brother standing on the side of the highway, just outside of Saint John, New Brunswick
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a memory that IB次元官网网址檒l cherish for the rest of my life,B次元官网网址� said Darrell. B次元官网网址淵ou know, IB次元官网网址檇 seen Terry run. I ran with him at times on the track at Hastings Junior Secondary in PoCo. But that day, IB次元官网网址檒l never forget that image.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淏ecause you knew now that he was in the midst of fulfilling a dream. He looked even stronger than he ever did back training,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚 thought he was invincible.B次元官网网址�
Darrell got in the camper van with TerryB次元官网网址檚 friend Doug Alward, and the Marathon of Hope kept moving. At that point, Terry had been on the road for six weeks, and he had been receiving support and gentle encouragement from the Maritime communities he ran through. Nothing like they would see in Ontario, but vital support all the same.
Take Port-Aux-Basques in Newfoundland, for example. The small community, population 10,000, raised $10,000 for the cause, which gave Terry the idea of raising one dollar for every Canadian.
B次元官网网址淚t was like being on your favourite amusement park ride and the thrill of never wanting to get off. That was what every day was like, being on the Marathon of Hope,B次元官网网址� said Darrell.
37 tears ago today: Terry is forced to stop his Marathon of Hope. Please donate in Terry's memory
B次元官网网址� TerryFoxFoundation (@TerryFoxCanada)
B次元官网网址淚 was witnessing Canada the way no one had seen it before and I was also able to take in a nation embracing my brother and cheer him on,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚t was so much good.B次元官网网址�
Terry ran for 143 days, covering more than 5,300 km through six provinces. He was two-thirds of the way home to B.C. when he was forced to stop on September 1, 1980.
The pain in his chest had become too great, and he asked Alward to drive him to the hospital. The next day, Terry held a press conference and announced that his cancer had returned, and it had spread to his lungs.
B次元官网网址淚 never B次元官网网址� I thought Terry would finish the Marathon of Hope,B次元官网网址� said Darrell. B次元官网网址淚 didnB次元官网网址檛 think anything could stop him. But it did.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚 try and focus on every day after. How the nation embraced Terry and came to his support, the telethon that happened in September of that year that raised over $10 million,B次元官网网址� he said.
B次元官网网址淗e was as tough then as he was every day prior to that in terms of how he was going to approach it. He sent that message out there. If he could recover from it, he would, but if he didnB次元官网网址檛, he hoped that the Marathon of Hope would continue. And it has.B次元官网网址�
Today, there are annual Terry Fox runs in more than 20 countries around the world and the Terry Fox Foundation has raised more than $715 million for the fight against cancer.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e come a long way in those 37 years in terms of eradicating cancer. ThereB次元官网网址檚 a long way to go, but weB次元官网网址檝e come a long way,B次元官网网址� said Darrell.
B次元官网网址淸Terry] believed that one person can make a difference. That limitations are self-imposed,B次元官网网址� said Darrell. B次元官网网址淭erry was just a very average individual. But through hard work and a never-give-up attitude, everything is possible.B次元官网网址�
The Terry Fox Research Institute celebrates its 10th anniversary this October. Since it launched in 2007, the TFRI has collaborated with more than 60 cancer hospitals and research institutes across Canada.
Darrell is a Senior Advisor at TFRI. B次元官网网址淲e review research grants from across the country,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淎nd with a heavy focus on team science. We want, like Terry brought the nation together in 1980, we want researchers B次元官网网址� [and] institutions to come together, as opposed to competing against one another.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭here are lots of great, quality research studies that arenB次元官网网址檛 being funded because of a lack of resources. So the foundation continues to fill a very large void in terms of supporting research out there,B次元官网网址� he said.
B次元官网网址淭erryB次元官网网址檚 not here, but heB次元官网网址檚 still our lead. HeB次元官网网址檚 still giving us direction, weB次元官网网址檙e still following his road, his journey.B次元官网网址�
To find where your nearest Terry Fox run is, visit
