I’m Running With Terry Fox. Are You?

I just finished the Terry Fox Run with my dad in my neighbourhood. We go every year. My school is also doing the Terry Fox run on Tuesday and I am so excited to run with my friends in honour of Terry Fox.

Terry Fox is a Canadian hero. When he was a teenager, Terry got cancer that started at the knee and had his leg amputated and replaced with a prosthetic leg. Terry Fox wanted to raise money for Cancer research. Before he got Cancer, he was very athletic and wanted to continue and he just decided that he was going to run across Canada to raise money. On April 12th, 1980, Terry dipped his foot in the Atlantic Ocean in St. John’s, Newfoundland and set off on what he called the Marathon of Hope. For the first little bit of the marathon, he didn’t get recognized that much, but when people saw that he was doing more than 26 miles a day and that he was really dedicated, people donated so much money and got so much support. Every where he went, people would out to cheer for him, support him and sometimes run with him. Sadly, at Thunder Bay, his cancer had returned. This time it was in his lungs. On September 1, 1980 he had to make the very difficult decision to stop. He returned home to British Columbia and passed away in June.  A few days later, he died in the hospital.

Terry loved Canada and he believed in Canadians. He believed that all Canadians want to make a difference. At the time, there was about 24, 000 000 people living in Canada. He thought that if every person donated one dollar because they believed, all of that would go to cancer reasearch. His goal was surpassed by a lot of money. Now, more than $650, 000 000 million dollars have been raised for cancer research. Isn’t that amazing?

Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope gave the people who had cancer, who had a disability, who believed that they couldn’t make a difference, something that they really need – HOPE. His marathon started with a dream, then with hope, strength, determination and perseverance, it became a reality. If you ever thought that you could not make a difference, think of Terry Fox and how he made a big impact in the world.

When I was on the We Create Change Tour, I thought a lot about Terry Fox. Like him, We started our tour in St. John’s, Newfoundland and we drove across Canada. In St. John’s I visited the monument to him by the water where he dipped his foot in the ocean and in Thunder Bay I visited the monument to him that honours his last stop. The part of the highway leading into Thunder Bay is called Courage Highway, and as we drove I imagined him there.

If you want to learn more about Terry Fox’s story and the Terry Fox Foundation, go to http://www.terryfox.org/

Are you running this week? Let me know in the comments below!