Remembering Terry Fox

Courageous, principled, determined. These are words that describe Terry Fox, the man who lost his leg to cancer and used this experience as an opportunity not to lament his misfortune, but to turn it into something positive. His plan was to run the equivalent of a marathon a day, starting on the east coast of Canada and keep going until he reached the Pacific. His goal was to raise one dollar for every Canadian (when he began the Marathon of Hope, the population of Canada was 22 million). His dream ended midway through the run when doctors discovered the cancer had spread to his lungs; he would lose his battle to cancer ten months later. Terry's improbable feat began 25 years ago today when he dipped his artificial leg in St. John's harbour. To date, the Terry Fox foundation has raised over $300 million for cancer research.

I come from a generation whose parents ingrained the concept of determination and heroism in children by telling stories about the brave soldiers who fought in a war in a place very far away. As my children reach an age when they too will sit down for their stories of courage, I will tell them about Terry Fox.