Terrance Stanley "Terry" Fox, CC (July 28, 1958 – June 28, 1981) 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 and is celebrated internationally every September as people participate in the Terry Fox Run, the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research.
Biography:
Terry Fox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to Rolly and Betty Fox. He was raised in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia with his older brother Fred[1], his younger brother Darrell, and his sister Judith.
Biography:
Terry Fox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to Rolly and Betty Fox. He was raised in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia with his older brother Fred[1], his younger brother Darrell, and his sister Judith.
Sports:
Four things were evident about him; first, he loved sports of all kinds - soccer, rugby union, baseball, and diving. Second, he was not tall; hence he had to work harder than the bigger kids. Third, he was extremely competitive. Lastly, he had a huge amount of determination. Fox's father, Rolly Fox, recalls that his son was very competitive in everything from board games to table hockey.[2] Rolly notes that "if you were better than him at the start, he'd keep playing until he was better than you...It didn't matter what it was, he hated to lose."[3]
In junior high school, Fox loved basketball and wanted to play guard on the Mary Hill Cobras team. He was only 5 feet tall at the time and mediocre at the game. In order to achieve his goal, he spent every day practicing his basketball skills. By grade ten, he was one of the best guards. In senior high school he was a starting guard for the Port Coquitlam Ravens. Thus, he achieved his goal because of his determination. In grade eight, Bob McGill, his physical education teacher suggested Fox should try out for cross country running. At that time, Fox completely had no interest in running but he started training anyway, because he had so much respect for his coach. Fox found the running exhausting but at the end, his coach praised his work ethic. And Fox kept that to the end of his days.
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, instead he pursued his dream of becoming a physical education teacher. After graduating with honours from Port Coquitlam Senior Secondary School (which was later renamed Terry Fox Secondary School in his honour), he studied kinesiology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. Fox was an active student at SFU and participated in a variety of on-campus clubs and groups.
Four things were evident about him; first, he loved sports of all kinds - soccer, rugby union, baseball, and diving. Second, he was not tall; hence he had to work harder than the bigger kids. Third, he was extremely competitive. Lastly, he had a huge amount of determination. Fox's father, Rolly Fox, recalls that his son was very competitive in everything from board games to table hockey.[2] Rolly notes that "if you were better than him at the start, he'd keep playing until he was better than you...It didn't matter what it was, he hated to lose."[3]
In junior high school, Fox loved basketball and wanted to play guard on the Mary Hill Cobras team. He was only 5 feet tall at the time and mediocre at the game. In order to achieve his goal, he spent every day practicing his basketball skills. By grade ten, he was one of the best guards. In senior high school he was a starting guard for the Port Coquitlam Ravens. Thus, he achieved his goal because of his determination. In grade eight, Bob McGill, his physical education teacher suggested Fox should try out for cross country running. At that time, Fox completely had no interest in running but he started training anyway, because he had so much respect for his coach. Fox found the running exhausting but at the end, his coach praised his work ethic. And Fox kept that to the end of his days.
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, instead he pursued his dream of becoming a physical education teacher. After graduating with honours from Port Coquitlam Senior Secondary School (which was later renamed Terry Fox Secondary School in his honour), he studied kinesiology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. Fox was an active student at SFU and participated in a variety of on-campus clubs and groups.
Crash:
On November 12, 1976, Fox was driving back home along Port Coquitlam's highway in his green 1968 Ford Cortina. He was distracted by a bridge construction site, and his car slammed into a half-ton truck. Nothing happened to the driver of the truck; Fox came out of the accident with only a sore right knee.
On November 12, 1976, Fox was driving back home along Port Coquitlam's highway in his green 1968 Ford Cortina. He was distracted by a bridge construction site, and his car slammed into a half-ton truck. Nothing happened to the driver of the truck; Fox came out of the accident with only a sore right knee.
Osteosarcoma
In 1977, after feeling pain in his right knee, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. This is 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.
Fox believed that the injury from the 1976 crash had weakened his knee and made it more susceptible to cancer, although his doctors disagreed.[4] The causes of osteosarcoma are not known.
Three years after losing his leg, 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. In February 1979, Terry Fox began training for the Marathon of Hope by running one-quarter of a mile. By the conclusion of his preparation-training 14 months later, Fox had run 5,085 kilometres or 3,159.5 miles.
Ventricular hypertrophy
What is not commonly known is that Terry Fox also suffered from a heart condition called Left Ventricular Hypertrophy.[citation needed] Fox’s ventricular hypertrophy condition was different from that normally associated with athletes, because only his left ventricle, and not his whole heart, was enlarged. Because of this, one week before Fox was to start the Marathon of Hope, a heart specialist told him that there was a legitimate risk of Fox dying because of the exertion he would be putting his heart through. However, even though Fox was already experiencing the dangerous warning signs that were associated with his particular heart condition, such as shortness of breath, dizzy spells, and seeing double at times, he forged ahead with his plans anyway.
Fox began by dipping his right 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. He also intended to fill another jug of water with water from the Pacific Ocean. He was going 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.[citation needed] While outside Ottawa, Ontario about 3,113 km into his Marathon of Hope, Fox said:"...everybody seems to have given up hope of trying. I haven't. It isn't easy and it isn't supposed to be, but I'm accomplishing something. How many people give up a lot to do something good. I'm sure we would have found a cure for cancer 20 years ago if we had really trie
Death:
Terry Fox is today considered a national hero of Canada. He was named a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour, on September 18, 1980, by Edward Schreyer, Canada's then serving Governor-General.Schreyer travelled to Port Coquitlam to personally present the medal to Terry himself.
In June 1981, Fox developed pneumonia, and on June 27, he went into a coma. He died on the 28th at 4:35 a.m., which was his favourite hour of running, a year after his legendary run, and exactly one month shy of his twenty-third birthday.Flags were flown at half-staff on Canadian government buildings across Canada and overseas while tributes poured in to Terry Fox's family who retreated home to prepare for his burial. Canada's serving Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in his address before Canada's House of Commons said that Terry gave far more to his country than his country was able to give to him. Trudeau also noted that:"It occurs very rarely in the life of a nation that the courageous spirit of one person unites all people in the celebration of his life and in the mourning of his death....We do not think of him as one who was defeated by misfortune but as one who inspired us with the example of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity."
On July 3, 1981, Terry Fox's funeral, which consisted of only 40 relatives and 200 invited guests that "reflected the restraint and simplicity he had shown in his life," was broadcast live on national television.[15][16] He is buried in the Port Coquitlam cemetery, near his favourite lookout just outside the cemetery gates.
[edit]Terry Fox Run
Main article: Terry Fox Run
The Terry Fox Run is run around the world every year to raise money for cancer research. It is non-competitive with no winners or awards, just people joining to raise money for cancer research. Schools all around also participate in the annual Terry Fox Run.
Steve Fonyo, a cancer survivor inspired by Fox, completed the full length of Fox's course in 1984 and 1985. Fonyo's left leg had been amputated.
In a public opinion poll, Terry Fox was voted the most famous Canadian of the 20th century. He was voted number two on The Greatest Canadian list.
In 1977, after feeling pain in his right knee, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. This is 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.
Fox believed that the injury from the 1976 crash had weakened his knee and made it more susceptible to cancer, although his doctors disagreed.[4] The causes of osteosarcoma are not known.
Three years after losing his leg, 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. In February 1979, Terry Fox began training for the Marathon of Hope by running one-quarter of a mile. By the conclusion of his preparation-training 14 months later, Fox had run 5,085 kilometres or 3,159.5 miles.
Ventricular hypertrophy
What is not commonly known is that Terry Fox also suffered from a heart condition called Left Ventricular Hypertrophy.[citation needed] Fox’s ventricular hypertrophy condition was different from that normally associated with athletes, because only his left ventricle, and not his whole heart, was enlarged. Because of this, one week before Fox was to start the Marathon of Hope, a heart specialist told him that there was a legitimate risk of Fox dying because of the exertion he would be putting his heart through. However, even though Fox was already experiencing the dangerous warning signs that were associated with his particular heart condition, such as shortness of breath, dizzy spells, and seeing double at times, he forged ahead with his plans anyway.
Fox began by dipping his right 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. He also intended to fill another jug of water with water from the Pacific Ocean. He was going 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.[citation needed] While outside Ottawa, Ontario about 3,113 km into his Marathon of Hope, Fox said:"...everybody seems to have given up hope of trying. I haven't. It isn't easy and it isn't supposed to be, but I'm accomplishing something. How many people give up a lot to do something good. I'm sure we would have found a cure for cancer 20 years ago if we had really trie
Death:
Terry Fox is today considered a national hero of Canada. He was named a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour, on September 18, 1980, by Edward Schreyer, Canada's then serving Governor-General.Schreyer travelled to Port Coquitlam to personally present the medal to Terry himself.
In June 1981, Fox developed pneumonia, and on June 27, he went into a coma. He died on the 28th at 4:35 a.m., which was his favourite hour of running, a year after his legendary run, and exactly one month shy of his twenty-third birthday.Flags were flown at half-staff on Canadian government buildings across Canada and overseas while tributes poured in to Terry Fox's family who retreated home to prepare for his burial. Canada's serving Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in his address before Canada's House of Commons said that Terry gave far more to his country than his country was able to give to him. Trudeau also noted that:"It occurs very rarely in the life of a nation that the courageous spirit of one person unites all people in the celebration of his life and in the mourning of his death....We do not think of him as one who was defeated by misfortune but as one who inspired us with the example of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity."
On July 3, 1981, Terry Fox's funeral, which consisted of only 40 relatives and 200 invited guests that "reflected the restraint and simplicity he had shown in his life," was broadcast live on national television.[15][16] He is buried in the Port Coquitlam cemetery, near his favourite lookout just outside the cemetery gates.
[edit]Terry Fox Run
Main article: Terry Fox Run
The Terry Fox Run is run around the world every year to raise money for cancer research. It is non-competitive with no winners or awards, just people joining to raise money for cancer research. Schools all around also participate in the annual Terry Fox Run.
Steve Fonyo, a cancer survivor inspired by Fox, completed the full length of Fox's course in 1984 and 1985. Fonyo's left leg had been amputated.
In a public opinion poll, Terry Fox was voted the most famous Canadian of the 20th century. He was voted number two on The Greatest Canadian list.
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