Terry Fox: A Marathon of Courage and Determination

Earlier in life Terry was a young athlete, he plays soccer, rugby, and baseball. His passion was really for basketball even though he only stands five feet and was not really good at that game. In basketball, his coach from his high school felt that his actually better to be a distance runner, But he doesn’t have an interest in joining cross country running, and then he took it anyway because he respected and pleased his coach.

In 1997 Terry Fox was diagnosed with a bone cancer called ostereocarma, That his right leg had to be cut off by fifteen centimeters above his knee.

After all the surgery Terry fox can able to walk again but by the assist of an artificial prosthetic leg. Then he still continues to run with his artificial leg and got invited to his basketball team to play by using a wheelchair. The night before the surgery his having Terry Fox got an article to read about Then he decided to run across Canada just to raise money for Cancer Research and Awareness.

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The night before his surgery someone gave him this article that talks about a guy who had the same situation as he has and that that completed a marathon in New York, he was Dick Traum. And Terry Fox had an ambition to do something good for the Cancer Research and Cancer Awareness, So that article inspired him a lot that he started training for the marathon with his prosthetic right leg, but when he trains he feels that his right leg is hurting a lot, but that didn’t make him stop, he continues.

And then he competed for a marathon in Prince George Briish Columbia for the first time in 1970.

On April 12, 1980, the marathon began, and when Terry Fox dipped his right leg to the Atlantic ocean water near Newfoundland and filled the large bottles that he got with the ocean water for a souvenir, For completing his run at Victoria, British Columbia. And he was supported on his run by Doug Alward. In the first days of running Terry was met with this heavy rain, Big huge rain, and snowstorms. That got him disappointed of the represented donation of the Newfoundland, where people in towns presented him a donation of $10.000. On June 22 Terry Fox arrived in Montreal one third of the way through his way of 8, 000 kilometre journey, and cause of him earning $200, 000 donations. Terry crossed within Ontario at the town of Hawkesbury at the last Saturday of June. While he was running a thousand people met him in the sidewalks and cheer for him, and while the Ontario Provincial Police sent him an escort to all around the province. And in really hot days of the summer, he still continued to run for 26 kilometre and 42 miles per day.

On July 11, Terry Fox was honoured in Nathan Phillips Square where there’s 10, 000 people, while he was running to the square he was joined by a lot of people too, Including the National Hockey League star Darryl Sittler. Who gave Terry Fox his 1980 All star game Jersey. That day the Cancer Society estimated and collected over $100.000 donations only in that whole day. As he continued travelling to the southern Ontario he also met Bobby Orr who also gave him a cheque that is worth $25.000, and Terry considered Bobby Orr by meeting him as a highlight of his journey. Aside from the rest days in Montreal got removed by the Cancer Society, Terry refuses to take a day even when in his 22nd birthday. Sometimes Terry suffered from shin splints and have a swollen knee also his feeling dizziness throughout the day when he ran. At that point, he suffered soreness in his ankle and that would not go away. But then he still ran for three more days, before he goes to the doctors, and then when he talked to the doctors he gladly got himself relief that it’s only Tendonitis that can be treated by a painkiller. And Terry rejected so many medical calls because he said was just fine, and he was really risking his health life.

On the 1st of September, in Thunder Bay Terry was forced to stop running because shortly after he ran he suffered some intense coughing, and chest pain, but then the people don’t have an idea of what exactly to do. A short minute later he asked Alward to drive him to the hospital because he couldn't take it anymore. He was scared because he ran his last kilometer. The rest day of being in the hospital the doctors announced that his cancer had come back and it spread through his lungs. When they found out what happened he was forced to stop his run for 143 days and 5, 373 kilometers 3, 339 miles. Then so many people advised him and ask him if they can finish his run, but he rejected all of that, declaring that he wanted to finish the marathon himself and no one else.