Terry Fox Run 2024
"The story was simple but powerful. Terry Fox lost his leg to osteogenic sarcoma at age 18, underwent 16 months of treatment and found he could not ignore the suffering he witnessed in the cancer wards. Terry decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research in a Marathon of Hope. He wasn’t doing the run to become famous; he wanted to create change and fund a cure for all cancers. Terry ran close to 42 kilometres (26 miles) a day through Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. He ran through snow, rain, wind, heat, humidity. He stopped in more than 400 towns, schools and cities to talk about why he was running. He started at 4:30am in the morning, and often did not finish his last mile until 7pm at night. Sometimes Terry and Doug, his best friend and driver, would sleep in the van because they could not afford a place to stay. Some days hundreds of people cheered him on; other days he was alone on the road, and no money was raised. But Terry never gave up hope that Canadians would respond to his story, to his effort…and he was right. Terry entered Ontario on June 28th the whole country was cheering him on and donating to cancer research. Canadians saw that Terry’s try was unlimited.
On September 1st, after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 miles), Terry was forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario. The only thing that could have stopped him did: cancer had appeared in his lungs. Even from Terry’s hospital bed, he continued to talk about the importance of donating to cancer research. He asked Canadians to continue to support his Marathon of Hope; he hoped his second diagnosis would help everyone understand that cancer could happen to anyone, even someone who had just raised over $1.7 million for research.
But Terry never gave up hope that Canadians would respond to his story, to his effort…and he was right.
Terry died on June 28, 1981 at the age 22. This bold and courageous Canadian was gone, but his legacy was just beginning. To date, over $850 million has been raised for cancer research in Terry’s name through the annual Terry Fox Run, held across Canada and around the world."
Our school participates in this tradition every year to encourage each generation to continue the fight.
Please see our "Photos" section for more.