Terry Fox – one-legged runner

Terry Fox was a Canadian activist who supported people diagnosed with cancer.
Terrance Stanley «Terry» Fox was born on July 28, 1958 in Winnipeg, Canada. He always loved sports and in high school he played soccer and basketball. Later, he was on the basketball team at Simon Fraser University. He was going to become a teacher of physical culture.
At the age of 18 Terry began to feel pain in his right knee. He was diagnosed with bone cancer and needed to have an operation. Most of his right leg had to be cut off. Before the operation, his basketball coach showed him a story in a newspaper about a man with one leg who ran in the New York City Marathon.
Then, Terry decided to run across Canada to collect money to fight cancer.

After the operation, Fox wore an artificial leg. He trained every day. It was very painful and exhausting.
In April 1980, Fox started his run across Canada. He called it the “Marathon of Hope.” Fox ran 26 miles a day, seven days a week. In September Fox began to feel sick. The cancer was back and spread to other parts of his body.
Terry Fox stopped running after four months and 5,373 kilometers.
Canadian television showed a program about him and collected $10 million for the Canadian Cancer Society. Fox collected $23.4 million for the Marathon of Hope.

In 1980, Terry was awarded the Order of Canada and Lou Marsh Trophy.
Terry Fox died on June 28, 1981.
Terry Fox Runs started all over the world. Over 300,000 people in 760 cities around the world, from Saudi Arabia to China, ran in the first Terry Fox Run in 1981. In 2000, more than 1.6 million people ran and collected $20.4 million for Fox’s charity. Terry Fox Run is listed in the record books as the largest single fund-raising campaign in the world.
Canadian authorities called the icebreaker in honor of Terry Fox. The ship was launched in 1983.

Terry Fox – one-legged runner