Terry Fox

**Terrance Stanley Fox** (July 28, 1958 – June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete and activist. He lost one of his legs because of bone cancer when he was 18. He is best known for The Marathon of Hope. This was a run across Canada (with the help of an artificial leg). It started on April 12, 1980 in St. John's, Newfoundland. He did the run to get people to donate money to cancer research. He wanted to run until he got to Vancouver Island. To do this, he planned to run across the country. The goal of the run was to raise 1 million Canadian dollars for cancer research. It was later to raise one dollar for every person in Canada. 

Many people helped him during his run. He ran about the distance of a marathon every day. On August 31, 1980, near the town of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Fox's cancer spread to his lungs. He had to stop running. Fox died on , in New Westminster, British Columbia. He died a month before his 23rd birthday. 

Fox was made a Companion in the Order of Canada before he died. He is the youngest person to be a Companion. There is a statue of him in Ottawa (Canada's capital city), near Parliament Hill. Many schools are named after him, such as the high school he was a student at. He has been put on the Canadian $1 coin. 

Fox inspired many Canadians to help people with cancer. Every year, there is the Terry Fox Run. It is a run that gives money to cancer research. As of September 2022, the run has given over 850 million Canadian dollars to cancer research. 

## Early life and cancer 
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Terry Fox was born on July 28, 1958, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His father worked for the Canadian National Railway. Fox had three siblings: an older brother named Fred, a younger brother named Darrell, and a younger sister named Judith. In 1966, they moved to Surrey, British Columbia. In 1968, they moved again to Port Coquitlam. Terry attended Glen Elementary, Mary Hill Junior Secondary, and Port Coquitlam Senior Secondary (the latter was eventually re-named Terry Fox Senior Secondary in his honour in 1986). The family remained in Port Coquitlam. Fox wanted to join his school's basketball team, but had trouble because he was short. His coach told him to do cross-country running. Fox started running, and practiced playing basketball. He got better at basketball, and won an award for it when he was in high school. Fox was on a basketball team for the university.

On November 12, 1976, Fox was driving to Port Coquitlam when he crashed his car into a truck. He hurt his knee in the crash, but did not do anything about it until he stopped playing basketball in March. Less than two months after learning how to play the sport, Fox played at the national championship for it. He won three national titles playing wheelchair basketball. Practicing running was painful because Fox had to run this way. He noticed that after 20 minutes of running, he got used to the pain and the running would hurt less. His mother told him not to, and he got mad. She later supported Fox's run. Fox wanted to get $1 million for cancer research. Later, he wanted to get $10 million, and then a dollar for every person who lived in Canada (24 million people).

### Before the run 
In October 1979, Fox wrote a letter to the Canadian Cancer Society. He told them about what he wanted to do. He asked them to give him money so he could start the run. He told them that he was going to finish the run, even if he had to "crawl every last mile". The Cancer Society did not know if he was going to finish the run, but they supported him once a doctor said that he was able to run. The left ventricle of Fox's heart was larger than normal. Doctors told Fox about the risks of the run. They did not think his heart was a problem. They supported his run when he told them he was going to stop running if he had heart problems. Fox did not take money from companies that wanted him to advertise what they sold. He only wanted cancer research to get money from his run. This was because Sharp's son died of cancer, so he wanted Fox to finish his run. The Canadian Cancer Society told Fox that more people would donate to cancer research if he got to Ottawa on Canada Day (July 1). He stayed in Montreal for a few more days to do this. Darryl Sittler, a National Hockey League player, gave him one of his hockey jerseys while he was running. He threw the first pitch at a baseball game between the Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians. Bobby Orr, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, met Fox and gave him $25,000 for cancer research. Fox thought meeting Orr was the best part of the run.

### End of the run and Canadian response 
Fox did not stop running during the Marathon of Hope, except for when he took the break in Montreal. He even ran on his 22nd birthday. In late August, Fox said he was tired before he even started running each day. It ended after five hours, and it got $10.5 million (equal to $35.5 million in 2022).

In September 1980, Fox became a Companion of the Order of Canada. He is the youngest person to ever be a Companion. The Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia made him a member of the Order of the Dogwood. Fox won the Lou Marsh Award, which is an award given to Canada's best athlete every year.

## Death 
Fox did chemotherapy many times, but his cancer kept growing. Pope John Paul II sent a letter to Fox. It said that he was praying for him. Doctors started doing new types of treatment to try and find something that would stop the cancer.

Fox went into a coma while he was in the hospital, and died on June 28, 1981. The Canadian government made all flags go to half-mast. This is done to honor somebody important who has died. 240 people went to his funeral in Port Coquitlam. The funeral was broadcasted on television. After he died, many Canadians gave more money to the Cancer Society.

## Legacy 
### Terry Fox Run 
While Fox was running, Isadore Sharp told him that he should make a run that people can do to give money to cancer. Fox liked the idea, but said that the run should not be a competition. Sharp and the Fox family did the fundraiser anyways. The first Terry Fox Run was on September 13, 1981. People started doing Terry Fox Runs in other countries. In 1999, 60 different countries had Terry Fox Runs. They raised $15 million in 1999. The Terry Fox Run is the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research. As of May 2022, over $850 million has been given to cancer research because of the Terry Fox Run.

### Movies and music 
Fox's story was made into a movie named *The Terry Fox Story* in 1983. HBO produced the movie. It was put on television in the United States, and played in movie theatres in Canada. Eric Fryer acted as Terry Fox in the movie. He won a Genie Award for Best Actor in 1984 after being in the movie. The movie won a Genie Award for Best Picture, and won three other Genie Awards as well. Movie critics gave *The Terry Fox Story* good and bad reviews. In 2005, CTV Television Network made a movie named *Terry*. Shawn Ashmore acted as Fox. Ashmore has two legs, so CTV edited the movie to make it look like he only had one. Fox's family liked *Terry* more than *The Terry Fox Story*.

Rod Stewart made a song about Fox named "Never Give Up on a Dream". He put it on his album, ''Tonight I'm Yours* (1981). Stewart also named his concert tour in Canada the "Terry Fox Tour". In 1981, Ian Thomas made a song named "Runner". The song is about the Marathon of Hope. *The Terry Fox Story'' had the song in it. In 1984, Manfred Mann's Earth Band made a cover version of the song.

### Other runs 
Other people ran across Canada before Fox did. In 1974, Mark Kent ran across Canada to get money for the Canadian team at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He started the run in St. John's on March 31, and finished on May 29, 1985. People donated over $13 million to cancer research because of Fonyo's run.

Canadian Paralympic athlete Rick Hansen was also inspired by the Marathon of Hope. He knew Fox because they played wheelchair basketball together. Hansen wanted to go around the world in his wheelchair. He started the Man in Motion World Tour in 1985. Hansen wanted to get $10 million to help research spinal cord injuries. He started in Vancouver on March 21. During the tour, he went through 34 countries, such as the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and China. He ended the tour in May 1987, and got over $26 million for research. During the tour, Hansen travelled over 40,000 kilometres.

### Fox's disability 
Fox did not call himself disabled. He told a radio station that life was more "rewarding" since he lost his leg. His run helped change how Canadians look at disabled people. Fox's run also showed disability in a positive way. Others have also said the way the media showed Fox made it seem as if a disability was only a problem for the person with it, instead of it also being a problem based on how others look at people with disabilities.

## References 
## Other websites 
* The Terry Fox Foundation 
* History Minute PSA
* More about Fox, including interviews and news reports