[2020-09-28] Terry Fox
CBC's The National ran a terrific story on Terry Fox last night. Anchor Ian Hanomansing noted that, on the 40th anniversary of his Marathon of Hope, Terry is being honoured with a new book: Forever Terry: A Legacy in Letters. Reflecting on what Terry means to them, 40 contributors provided 40 letters, edited by Terry's younger brother, Darrell.
I was 13 when Terry Fox started his Marathon of Hope in the spring of 1980—old enough to be aware that a cancer survivor just eight years older than I was attempting to run across Canada. I don't recall my level of knowledge at the time, but it is undeniable that I and the vast majority of Canadians know who Terry Fox is today.
Still, it is easy to forget some of the details that make his story so compelling.
As described on The Terry Fox Foundation website, Terry was 18 when he learned that he had a malignant tumour in his right leg. In addition to amputation of the limb, Terry underwent chemotherapy. In the CBC piece, he said:
I had gone through my year and a half of chemotherapy, the hardest time of my life, when I might have died but I lived. Knowing that these people are still there—there's people in a bed right now, and I decided that I would try and help out those people by raising money, and maybe being a motivator for them by doing what I'm doing.
Terry began training for his cross-country trek in February 1979 and ran more than 5,000 km before even starting the Marathon of Hope.
On April 12, 1980, Terry began his public race in St. John's, NL. He would average 42 km per day over the next 143 days.
Perhaps foreshadowing what was to come, Terry said on his tour, as captured in the CBC piece:
I've said to people before that I'm going to do my very best to make it. I'm not going to give up, and that's true. But I might not make it. And if I don't make it, the Marathon of Hope better continue. It's got to go without me. I'll do my best, but it's got to keep going without me if I can't make it."
On September 1, 1980, Terry was forced to stop his run outside Thunder Bay, ON, as cancer had spread to his lungs.
His goal was to raise $1 for every Canadian. That goal was reached on February 1, 1980, when the total funds raised by the Marathon of Hope reached $24.17 million; at the time, Canada's population was 24.1 million.
On June 28, 1981, Terry died at the age of 22.
Forty years later, Terry's legacy lives on. According to The Terry Fox Foundation, as of 2020, more than $800 million has been raised in Terry’s name to support cancer research.
In the CBC piece, Darrell Fox describes the lessons he learned from his older brother:
What I learned from Terry was anything is possible if you try, which were Terry's actual words. He said before he started the Marathon of Hope, "I want to try the impossible to show that it can be done." And that's exactly what Terry did in my mind, in 1980. He proved to us all that the limitations we have are self-imposed, and we can do anything if we set our mind and heart towards a goal.
When I started this blog, I didn't have a grand goal in mind, certainly nothing along the lines of Terry's Marathon of Hope. I still don't think I could ever achieve the kind of impact he has. But I have had friends ask me why I don't post my blog publicly, saying that it would help many people.
One of the contributors to Forever Terry: A Legacy in Letters and featured in the CBC story, Canadian Olympian Perdita Felicien, seemed to echo my thoughts:
I believe Terry Fox's legacy is that each one of us can make change. We can make a difference. Whatever the causes are, if we start locally, if we start in our own backyards, we might not know where these changes will take us. And they might not be as big as the Marathon of Hope. But I don't think that matters. Just pick up something, be passionate about it, and fight for that cause, whatever it is.
Perdita also said:
Sometimes we think that we have to be a millionaire or a politician to make change, to make things happen. But here was Terry Fox, an ordinary Canadian kid who said that I'm not going to wait for somebody else to tackle cancer. I'm going to fight it myself. And Terry did what was in his power to do—he ran. And he ran every day until he couldn't.
I'm not a runner, but I am a writer. I've been writing all my life. Perhaps that has been practice for this moment—a moment when I can bring information or comfort or inspiration to others as I tackle cancer.
In the CBC story, Darrell Fox described what Terry has meant to him:
The part of Terry that my family and I carry with us every day is that life is short. Do not take it for granted. Terry said that he made a mistake in the 18 years before he was diagnosed with cancer, that he was very self-centred, that cancer awakened him to the concept of giving back and helping others.
I've always tried to be the kind of person who gives back and helps others. So I will find a way to be more public with my story, with the aim of being helpful to as many people as possible. Feel free to share my blog with anyone who would benefit from it.
Photo credit: The Terry Fox Research Institute
