Black Habits - Terry Fox's legacy of hope

Terry Fox has been described by his mother as "a very ordinary young man." But the "ordinary young man" became a national hero when he ran across the country to raise money for cancer research. To millions of Canadians he represented everything that is good, inspiring, generous, selfless and decent. (Too BH, he represents what 1 person can accomplish.)

June 28, 2001, was the 20th anniversary of the death of Terry Fox. Fox died nine months after his cancer forced him to abandon his cross-country run "The Marathon of Hope." In 10 years, the annual Terry Fox Run raised more than $250 million for cancer research worldwide. By 2004, according to the Terry Fox run website, that had surpassed $360 million. Terry was born in 1958 in Winnipeg, Man. A few years later his family moved to Port Coquitlam, B.C. As a kid, Terry was always enthusiastic about sports, even when he was the worst player on his Grade 8 basketball team. A teacher encouraged him to go out for cross-country running, a sport in which he had little interest. But Fox was determined to be better and to please his coach. In his final year at Port Coquitlam secondary school he shared the Athlete of the Year award with his friend Doug Alward. After that, he went on to study physical education at Simon Fraser University. Then, in 1977, when a pain in Terry's knee got so bad he could barely stand, he went to the hospital where he was diagnosed as having osteogenic sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. His right leg was amputated six inches above his knee. He hated the time he spent in hospital and pushed himself to learn to walk again. His determination had him out playing golf only six weeks after the operation. Later, basketball returned to his life when he was invited to play wheelchair basketball with Rick Hansen. But Terry never forgot his experience in the hospital. He was angry at how little money was spent on cancer research in Canada. He turned his anger into a mission â€“ he would run across the country to raise both awareness and money in his fight against cancer. When he began training, he kept his dream a secret. He told his family he was training for the Vancouver Marathon. The beginning was tough. He spent most of his time falling down and picking himself off the floor. He kept going, though, and after more than a year, and over 4,800 kilometres of running, he announced his plans to his family. He said his goal was to collect $1 for every person living in the country â€“ at the time Canada had a population of about 24 million. Support for his cause gradually built. Before his run, he collected donations including the camper van his friend Doug drove during the run. It was given to him by the Ford Motor Co. Finally, on April 12, 1980, Terry Fox dipped his artificial foot in the Atlantic Ocean off St. John's, Nfld., and began his Marathon of Hope. Terry ran about 42 kilometres each day no matter the weather â€“ freezing rain, high winds, even snow. Skeptics thought he'd never make it past New Brunswick but he proved them wrong and Terry Fox became a household name. He ran through Dartmouth, Charlottetown, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and a long list of places in between. When he wasn't on the move, he gave speeches that were often emotional, touching the hearts of many Canadians. When August came along, Terry passed through Sudbury, the halfway mark on his journey west. But on Sept. 1, chest pains and breathing problems forced him to stop running at a spot along the Trans-Canada Highway northeast of Thunder Bay. After 143 days and 5,373 kilometres, he announced he would have to postpone the rest of the run, saying "I'm gonna do my very best. I'll fight, I promise I won't give up." Terry was sent to a hospital in B.C. where doctors discovered the source of his chest pains: cancer had spread to his lungs. The Marathon of Hope would have to go on without him. In the months that followed, donations kept coming. A total of $24.17 million was raised, surpassing Terry's initial goal. When Terry was in hospital, he received a letter from one of the many people he had inspired along the way. Isadore Sharp, president of the Four Seasons Hotel, wrote Terry saying his dream would continue with an annual fundraising marathon, to be called the Terry Fox Run. Terry himself laid out many of the guidelines for the Run that are still followed today â€“ probably the most important of which is to keep the event non-competitive â€“ no winners, no awards, just the goal of raising money for cancer research. Terry Fox died on June 28, 1981, but not before becoming the youngest person ever to be awarded the Order of Canada. On Sept. 13, 1981, the first Terry Fox Run was held. More than 300,000 Canadians took part in the event at 760 sites across the country. The run raised $3.5 million. The Terry Fox Run is a family affair for the Foxes. It was their idea to create a non-profit organization to run the charity after a family friend calculated that administration costs were eating up 35 per cent of the money raised. Since the Terry Fox Foundation was formed in 1988, those costs have dropped to two per cent. Terry's brother Darrell is the national director of the run, his brother Fred is in charge of the foundation's provincial office in B.C., his sister Judith often speaks at schools, and his mother Betty spends five to seven months a year travelling across Canada giving presentations. In 2003, the last year for which official figures are available, Terry Fox events at 1,100 locations in Canada and 50 other countries raised $20 million. Communities in Canada raised $5 million that year, schools raised $6.7 million and corporate events raised $1.9 million. On March 14, 2005, Terry Fox became the first time the image of a Canadian has appeared on a general-circulation Canadian coin. He is pictured on the reverse of the Terry Fox commemorative one dollar coin, wearing his Marathon of Hope t-shirt. The detail on his face shows his determination and anguish as he ran the equivalent of a full marathon daily. The Queen occupies her usual place on the other side of the coin. By September 2005, 20 million of the coins will have been produced.

Note: CBC News Online | March 14, 2005