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Terry Fox

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Terry Fox:Terry Fox on his Marathon of Hope cross-country run.
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Terry Fox on his Marathon of Hope cross-country run.

Terrance Stanley "Terry" Fox, CC (July 28, 1958 – June 28, 1981) was a Canadian humanitarian, athlete, and cancer treatment activist. He became famous for his Marathon of Hope, a cross-Canada run to raise money for cancer research, running with one prosthetic leg. He is considered one of Canada's greatest heroes of the 20th Century and is celebrated internationally every September as people participate in the 'Terry Fox Run', the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research.


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Biography

Terry (Terrance) Fox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to Rolly and Betty Fox. He was raised with his two brothers and sister in the family home on Morrill Street in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada. His family heritage was Polish and Scottish, and the Fox family were devout Roman Catholics.[citation needed]

Young Terry was always an active sports fan, with diving being his favorite. As a teenager he won numerous medals in diving and swim competitions and impressed many with his stamina and endurance. Though many of his instructors encouraged him to stay with water sports and train professionally, Terry instead pursued another dream, which was to become a physical education teacher. After graduating with honours in high school, he applied to Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia and was accepted as a kinesiology student. Terry was an active student at SFU and participated in a variety of on-campus clubs and groups. Very politically aware, Fox participated in a number of activist causes, such as Vietnam War protests and on-campus sit ins.

In 1977, after feeling pain in his right knee, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. At the time the only way to treat his condition was to amputate his right leg several inches above the knee. Three years after losing his leg at age 18, the young athlete decided to run from coast to coast in order to raise money for cancer research. In creating the Marathon of Hope, his goal was to raise $1.00 from every Canadian citizen.

Marathon of Hope

Main article: Marathon of Hope

Terry began 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 Victoria, British Columbia. He also filled two large bottles with Atlantic Ocean water; his plan was to keep one as a souvenir and pour the other one into the Pacific.His plan was to run about 42 km (26.2 miles) a day, the distance of a typical marathon. No one had ever done anything similar to the task Fox was undertaking.

Unfortunately, Terry Fox could not finish his run. The cancer had spread to his lungs, and he was forced to abandon the course on September 1, 1980 just northeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario after 143 days. He had run 5,373 km (3,339 miles, or around 23.3 miles per day) through Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario.

Terry Fox:Terry Fox
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Terry Fox

Soon after Fox was forced to stop, the CTV television network organized a telethon in hopes of raising additional funds for the cause. Any celebrities within range of Toronto were invited to participate, and the event raised millions of dollars. Many of the guests paid tribute to Fox; TV actor Lee Majors called him "the real Six Million Dollar Man."

When he passed through Ottawa, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau awarded him the Order of Canada, making him the then-youngest person to ever receive the award.

Terry Fox died on June 28, 1981, the year after his legendary run exactly one month shy of his twenty-third birthday.

Terry Fox:The Terry Fox memorial statue, Simon Fraser University
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The Terry Fox memorial statue, Simon Fraser University
Terry Fox:The Terry Fox memorial statue, Ottawa
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The Terry Fox memorial statue, Ottawa

Legacy

The most important legacy of Terry Fox has to be the hundreds of millions of dollars raised for cancer research by him and in his name. Part of the research has gone into improving treatments including that of the cancer that ultimately killed Fox. Children who now are diagnosed with osteosarcoma will rarely have amputations, and their lifespans have been greatly increased.

The other lasting legacy of Terry Fox has been the creation of an annual international charity run that raises money for cancer research. The Terry Fox Run was established a few years after his death and has raised hundreds of millions around the world.

In 1985, Steve Fonyo, another Canadian who also lost a leg to cancer, successfully ran the full length of Terry's intended course.

Terry Fox also helped remove the stigma that often surrounded disabled persons. He showed that people with physical limitations were able to excel in physical acts that even healthy able-bodied people would struggle to accomplish. He further helped raise the profile of cancer and its effects on society. Prior to his marathon, cancer was a little-discussed topic in Canada.

Many schools across Canada, like Port Coquitlam, British Columbia's Terry Fox Secondary School, are named in his honour.

Portrayals

His story is dramatized in the 1983 HBO TV movie The Terry Fox Story, which the Fox family has criticized for its negative depiction of Terry as having a fiery temper. In that film, he was portrayed by Eric Fryer, who won the Best Actor award at the 5th Genie Awards in 1984 for his portrayal.

In 2005, a new movie, titled Terry, was produced by the CTV television network. In that film, Fox was portrayed by Shawn Ashmore. Unlike Fryer, however, Ashmore is not himself an amputee; digital editing was used to superimpose a prosthesis over Ashmore's real leg.

Author Douglas Coupland also chronicled Fox in his 2005 book Terry - The Life of Canadian Terry Fox.

While Terry Fox was on his Marathon of Hope, a pop song was composed. "Run Terry Run" was performed by the Nancy Ryan's Singers.

British singer/songwriter Rod Stewart's 1981 album Tonight I'm Yours includes the song "Never Give Up On A Dream" (co-written with Bernie Taupin), a tribute to Terry's Marathon of Hope. Proceeds from the song went towards cancer research.

In a public opinion poll, Terry Fox was voted the most famous Canadian of the 20th century. He was voted number two on The Greatest Canadian list.

Eric Walters’s fictional book Run is about a troubled teenager who is inspired by a meeting with Terry Fox.

Honours

Terry Fox:The Terry Fox dollar, issued in 2005
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The Terry Fox dollar, issued in 2005

Bibliography

Categories


Cleanup from October 2006 | Articles to be merged since September 2006 | Articles with unsourced statements | 1958 births | 1981 deaths | Amputees | British Columbia sportspeople | Canadian disabled sportspeople | Canadian humanitarians | Canada's Sports Hall of Fame | Companions of the Order of Canada | Manitoba sportspeople | People from British Columbia | People from Port Coquitlam | People from Winnipeg | Simon Fraser University alumni

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