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[quote:bfed5]Looking back at Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope

[img]http://images.tsn.ca/images/stories/20050901/fox_43384.jpg[/img]
Terry Fox

TSN.ca Staff

9/1/2005 12:03:25 PM

Twenty-five years ago today, Terry Fox was forced to abandon his Marathon of Hope for cancer research just outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario. On this day, we remember the sacrifice and courage he went through to help battle the disease, and work to continue the great run that he wanted to finish.

Moved by the suffering of children he met while undergoing his own cancer treatment, Fox decided to raise $1-million for cancer research by walking across Canada.

As a teenager, Fox was quite the athlete while growing up in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. In junior high, he played baseball, rugby and basketball. In Grade 12, Fox would share the Athlete of the Year award with his best friend, Doug Alward. He would go on to enroll at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver with the goal of becoming a physical education teacher. While at SFU, he tried out for the basketball team where fellow player Mike McNeill said Fox stood out against players much more talented than he was simply by his determination and hard work.

In March of 1977, Fox complained of pain in his right knee while running. A trip to the hospital and some x-rays confirmed he had osteogenic sarcoma, a cancerous tumour that makes the bone go soft. To stop the spread of the cancer, doctors amputated his right leg six inches above the knee.

Three weeks after the surgery, Fox was walking with the aid of an artificial leg. A few months later, he joined the Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association's basketball team, which was being run at the time by Rick Hansen, who would later embark on the "Man in Motion" tour. While with the team, Fox would go on to play in three national championships.
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Inspired by amputee Dick Traum, who ran in the New York City Marathon, Fox entered a marathon in Prince George in August of 1979. He finished last, some 10 minutes behind the other able-bodied runners, but was greeted with cheers and applause as he crossed the finish line. It was this event that planted the seeds for Fox's Marathon of Hope.


In April of the following year, Fox embarked on his journey, running 42 kilometres a day on a prosthetic leg. During that time, he battled pain from a leg stump rubbed raw and bleeding from running, loneliness and at times depression. But he continued with his goal, rain or shine.

On September 1st, 1980, after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres, Fox was forced to abandon his run just outside of Thunder Bay. The cancer which had claimed his leg had now shown up in his lungs. He returned home to try and battle the disease. While others had volunteered to finish his journey, Fox refused, saying he would be back to complete the trek.

Fox passed away on June 28, 1981 at the age of 22.

Fox's goal of raising $1 from every Canadian has been far exceeded with more than $360 million having been collected for cancer research through the Terry Fox Run, which is held every year in towns and cities across Canada and around the world.[/quote:bfed5]