April 12, 1980 was an important day in the life of Terry Fox. It wouldn't be until later the rest of Canada and the world would understand what an important day it was. I've written about Terry before. He was the young man who lost a leg to Cancer, and was fighting Cancer as he started what he called The Marathon of Hope. Terry's goal was to run a marathon every day across Canada, to raise awareness and money to fight Cancer.
30 years ago today, Terry dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean, in St. John's, Newfoundland and began his journey. It can't be easy to run with one good leg and one artificial one. Of course I am proof, that it isn't easy to run with two working legs. Even though Terry trained for this, he would suffer on the route with blisters, cysts, pain and a lot of agony. He didn't let it stop him.
At first Terry was disappointed with how things were going. Bad weather, and small crowds were what he encountered. Slowly though, as he went through each town, more and more people came out to show their support his efforts. The media began to cover his trek, and soon people all over the world were following the 21 year old as he labored on his journey. As his fame grew, Terry found it difficult to maintain the run and all of the requests for stops the nation's Cancer society asked him to do. He did lot let that deter him from his quest.
Sadly for Terry, Cancer would not let him go, and he found it getting harder and harder to do his run. On day 143 he stopped The Marathon of Hope, and would soon have to undergo various chemotherapy sessions. The country was still supportive of his efforts, and he was considered a national hero at this point.
A month after he ended his run, there was a national telethon, which raised nearly $2 million. His goal of raising awareness an money for Cancer research was a success, even if the run was not complete. on June 28, 1981, Terry died.
His work continues to this day with the Terry Fox Foundation, which organizes runs and activities across Canada and the world to raise money for Cancer research.
http://www.terryfox.org/
Little did I know back then as I read about Terry Fox, that I would be a runner one day. I too would use my running to raise money and awareness for groups like the AIDS Foundation of Chicago or the National Down Syndrome Society.
Our heroes don't always look like Superman, looking strong with amazing powers. Sometimes the strongest heroes we know look as simple as a young man with one good leg, but with a strong heart and full of determination.
I hope as Terry passed away, he realized he did some good work.
Charlie
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