TERRY FOX http://elyanyta.podomatic.com/

Biography

Terrance Stanley "Terry" Fox, CC (July 28, 1958 – June 28, 1981)was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to Rolly and Betty Fox. He was raised in the family home on Morrill Street, with his brother Fred, his younger brother Darell, and his sister Judith. He was a Canadian humanitarian, athlete, and cancer treatment activist. He became famous for the Marathon of Hope, a cross-Canada run to raise money for cancer research, which Fox ran 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.

Sports

As a child, Fox was always an active sports fan, with diving being his favourite sport. Four things were evident about him; first, he loved sports of all kinds - soccer, rugby, baseball, and basketball. Second, he was not tall, so he had to work harder than the bigger kids. Third, he was extremely competitive. Lastly, he had a huge amount of determination.

In his teenage years, he won numerous medals in diving and swimming competitions, and impressed many people with his stamina and endurance. Though many of his instructors encouraged him to stay with water sports and train professionally, Fox instead pursued the dream of becoming a physical education teacher.

Osteosarcoma

In 1977, after feeling pain in his right knee, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. This iss a form of cancer that strikes men more than women, usually around ages ten to twenty-five. Very often the cancer starts at the knee, then works its way up into the muscles and tendons. At the time, the only way to treat his condition was to amputate his right leg several inches above the knee. The car accident may have triggered his sarcoma.[citation needed]

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 from each Canadian citizen.

Marathon of Hope

Fox began by dipping his leg in the Atlantic Ocean at St. John's, Newfoundland on April 12, 1980. He intended to dip it in the Pacific Ocean when he arrived in 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.

Fox was unable to finish his run. X-rays revealed that Terry's right lung had a lump the size of a golf ball, and his left lung had another lump the size of a lemon. The lumps were not lung cancer; rather, they were bone cancer that went into his lungs through his bloodstream. He was forced to stop the run on September 1, 1980 just north-east 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.

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."


Death

In June of 1981, Terry developed pneumonia, and on June 27 he went into a coma. He later died on the 28th at 4:35 a.m which was his favorite hour of running, a year after his legendary run, exactly one month shy of his twenty-third birthday.

Terry's funeral was large and was broadcast live on national television. He is buried in the Port Coquitlam cemetery, near his favorite lookout just outside the cemetery gates.