Terry Fox was an athlete with extraordinary motivation and spirit. At a very young age, one of his legs was amputated due to cancer. Despite this misfortune, in 1980 he crossed Canada on the hope marathon in an attempt to raise $1 million for cancer research. Imagine running with a prosthetic leg, on difficult terrain and inclement weather conditions! But despite these difficulties, Terry Fox remained determined to complete the marathon. These also did not become an obstacle to Terry’s mission, as he extended his fundraising goal to $22 million. Ultimately, he succeeded in this noble mission and put an end to the hope marathon near Thunder Bay, but cancer proved to be a formidable foe that consumed his life; Terry passed away because the cancer had spread to his lungs while he was intensely running 24 miles a day.
The story of how Terry Fox started running is something straight out of a legendary book. In 1977, 21-year-old Terry Fox discovered that he had a life-threatening tumor on his leg, and if it wasn’t amputated, it would kill him very soon. He decided to go for treatment and agreed to have his leg amputated. On the very night of his amputation, he read about a runner who ran a long-distance race despite having his leg amputated. Since then, he decided to emulate such a noble dream by participating in a marathon himself. Such was the dream that served as the seed, which turned out to be a giant tree of hope for humanity.
Terry, after recovering enough to get up and move, began a run that called the hope marathon. She ran more than 5 thousand kilometers in just 143 days. When asked why he chose to run and what kept him running, he gave a very simple yet profound answer saying, “I’m not a dreamer, and I’m not saying this will initiate any kind of ultimate answer or cure.” to cancer, but I believe in miracles.
Terry’s dream was to raise $1 from every Canadian citizen, and with a population of around 24 million people in Canada, Terry was able to do just that. Terry passed away some time before his 23rd birthday, but he left a daunting legacy. The fundraising event and Terry Fox Run has continued since his death, and as of 2014, the foundation has raised about $650 million for cancer research. Such is the fate of a dream made possible.
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