Terry Fox :: essays research papers

Terry Fox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but inscribed in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, a community near Vancouver on Canadas west coast. As an active teenager involved in many sports, in 1977 Terry was only 18 days old when he was diagnosed with bone cancer and forced to have his right leg amputated six inches above the knee. The night before his operation, Terry read an article about an amputee who had competed in the New York Marathon. Indirectly that story, along with Terrys observations of the intense suffering of cancer patients, set the stage for what would ultimately become the most important close of his young life. In 1980, Terry Fox inspired the nation by attempting to run across Canada with an artificial leg. He called this journey the Marathon of Hope. Its mission was to raise money and awareness for cancer research in Canada.With little to no attending, Terry started his journey in St. Johns, Newfoundland on April 12, 1980. Although it was difficult to get at tention in the beginning, hype soon grew, and the money collected along his route began to rise. He ran 43 kilometers a day through Canadas Atlantic Provinces, Quebec and Ontario. September 1, 1980 -- it was a dull day in Northern Ontario when Terry Fox ran his last miles. After 18 miles he started coughing and felt a pain in his chest. Terry knew how to cope with pain. Hed despite it as he always had before, hed simply keep going until the pain went away.For 3,339 miles, from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canadas eastern most city on the shoring of the Atlantic, hed run through six provinces and now was two-thirds of the way home. Hed run close to a marathon a day, for 144 days.