Two athletes stricken at a young age by cancer. Both battle the disease and raise money for cancer research in high profile campaigns.
One survives and one doesn't.
We know the Lance Armstrong story. The Terry Fox story doesn't have anything to do with cycling, but it does have something to do with courage and tenacity, just like Lance.
Terry Fox was an active sports-minded boy raised near Vancouver, British Columbia. At 18, he was diagnosed with bone cancer and doctors amputed his right leg 6 inches above the knee to stop the spread of the disease.
While seeing others suffer in the hospital, Terry decided to run across Canada to raise money and awareness for cancer research. He called it the “Marathon of Hope.”
After training for a year and a half, Terry, age 21, started his run in Newfoundland on April 12, 1980. His run gained more attention everyday, as he clocked off 26 miles a day through Quebec and Ontario. After running 3,339 miles, Terry had to stop. One-hundred and forty-three days after he started, the cancer was detected in his lungs.
“The impact he was having on people with this incredible physical feat … people along the side of the road had tears of joy, tears of pride. I was witnessing a nation embracing my brother.”
Writes Struck: “He was an appealing symbol for them: sunburned and handsome, he was the picture of youthful vigor — except for that metal and plastic leg emerging from his running shorts. The prosthesis chafed and blistered his stump as he ran. Reporters noticed blood running down the device. Terry suffered bone bruises on his left foot and lost his toenails. He confied to his diary that he often saw double and nearly fainted with dizziness.”
A week after he arrived back at the hospital, a Canadian network held the Terry Fox fund-raiser featuring such singers as Elton John and John Denver; it raised $8.5 million.
Terry died within a year, but cancer fund-raising in his name continues. This weekend marks the 25th annual Terry Fox Run, which has raised $360 million worldwide for cancer research.
On Sunday, runners in hundreds Canadian cities and 50 countries around the world will take to the streets for the annual Terry Fox Run. The Terry Fox Foundation estimates it attracts more than 3 million people annually. It's noncompetitive and noncommercial; just people out running to raise money for cancer research.
The Terry Fox Foundation website lists cities in Canada, the US, and elsewhere in the world where Terry Fox Runs are scheduled this weekend.
If you get the Canadian TV network, CBC, it's airing a documentary on Terry Fox at 8 p.m. Friday.
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