Terry Fox

Hello, my name is Terry Fox. I grew up in a town called Port Coquitlam in British Columbia, Canada. When I was a kid, I loved to run and play sports more than anything. My favorite sports were basketball and running. I wasn't always the best player on the team, but I learned that if I worked hard, I could achieve anything. I never, ever gave up. Then, in 1977, when I was a teenager, I learned that I had a sickness called cancer in my right leg. The doctors told me that to help me get better, they would have to remove my leg. It was a scary time, but I knew I had to be brave and keep trying, just like I did in sports.

While I was in the hospital, I saw many other people who were also sick with cancer, and some of them were children just like you. Seeing their bravery made me want to do something big to help. That’s when I came up with a big idea. I decided I would run all the way across Canada, from one side to the other. I called my journey the 'Marathon of Hope.' My goal was to ask every single person in Canada to give just one dollar to help doctors find a cure for cancer. I was given a special new leg, called an artificial leg, to help me run. It wasn't easy, but I trained for more than a year, running a little farther each day to get strong for my amazing journey.

My Marathon of Hope began on April 12th, 1980. I started in a city called St. John's, in Newfoundland, where I dipped my artificial leg right into the chilly Atlantic Ocean. From that day on, I ran almost a full marathon every single day. Some days the sun was shining, some days it rained, and other days the wind pushed against me, but I kept going. My best friend, Doug Alward, drove our van beside me, helping me along the way. At first, not many people knew what I was doing. But soon, more and more people heard about my run. They would come out to the roadsides to cheer for me and give money to help fight cancer. Seeing them made me feel so happy and gave me the strength to keep running.

I ran for 143 days, but on September 1st, 1980, I had to stop my run near a city called Thunder Bay, Ontario. The cancer had come back and spread to other parts of my body. Even though I couldn't finish my run all the way to the Pacific Ocean, the people of Canada didn't stop helping. They continued to give money and helped me reach my goal. I lived to be 22 years old. My dream didn't end when I had to stop running. Today, people all over the world join in the annual Terry Fox Run to continue my Marathon of Hope. My story shows that you are never too small to make a difference, and that with hope, anything is possible.