Terry Fox is a great athlete and has passion for basketball. In Grade 12, he won his high school's athlete of the year together with his best friend, Doug Alward. However, he later discovered he has cancer near his knees and has to have his leg amputated. He endured sixteen months of chemotherapy as he watched fellow cancer patients suffered and die from the disease. An article given to him about Dick Traum, the first amputee who completed the New York City Marathon inspire him and he embarked on a training program and complete a marathon. His bigger plan was to run across Canada to increase cancer awareness and raise funds for cancer research.
He started his Marathon of Hope on 12 April 1980 from St John, Newfoundland and ran an equivalent of a full marathon each day. He was to complete his journey at Victoria, British Columbia and was supported by his friend, Doug Alward who drove the van and cooked meals. Fox initially hope to raise 1 million, then 10 million, then 24 million a dollar each for 24 million of Canada's population.
He was forced to stop his run outside of Thunder Bay when the cancer spread to his lungs after 143 days and 5,373 km (3,339 miles).
Fox made no promises that his efforts would lead to a cure for cancer, but he closed his letter with the statement: "We need your help. The people in cancer clinics all over the world need people who believe in miracles. I am not a dreamer, and I am not saying that this will initiate any kind of definitive answer or cure to cancer. I believe in miracles. I have to."
Fox died on 28 Jun 1981 and the Government of Canada said, "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".
Fox was named one of the greatest Canadian's heroes and a Terry Fox Foundation was established for cancer research. There is also an annual fund raising run named the "Terry Fox Run". Over 500 million has been raised in his name.
Below is the youtube link on the full documentary of this amazing and selfless athlete with great determination called "Into The Wind". It is OK if you shed a few tears at the end of the documentary for the greatness of the human spirit.
Into the Wind (The Story of Terry Fox)
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