Terry Fox was big news in 1980. The young man of only 21 tender years had decided that he was going to run the entire length of Canada, starting in St John’s, Newfoundland and covering 5,000 miles with his finish being in Victoria, British Columbia.
In itself, this was a gargantuan task, but Terry would also be doing this with only one leg. That, and while dying of cancer.
Fox was a distance runner before he lost his leg. He played basketball for his High School, Port Coquitlam in British Columbia, as well as Simon Fraser University. His right leg was amputated in 1977 after he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, though he continued to run using an artificial leg. He also played wheelchair basketball in Vancouver, winning three national championships.
On April 12th, 1980, he began what became known as “The Marathon of Hope” in order to raise money for cancer research. His aim was to raise a dollar for each Canadian resident, at the time around 24 million people. The start was low key and without much fuss. Collecting two bottles of water from the Atlantic Ocean, his intentions were to keep one as a souvenir and to pour the other one into the Pacific when he ended his run.
Running the equivalent of a marathon a day, when he started, was unheard of. By the time he had reached Ontario, he was a national star and was regularly making public appearances with celebrities, businessmen, politicians and other athletes.
Where did the idea come from?
It was the night before his cancer surgery that prompted Fox to come up with the idea of The Marathon of Hope. He’d been reading a magazine, and it contained an article about Dick Traum, the first amputee to complete the New York City Marathon. The article inspired him. This is where the first spark ignited that became the roaring flame that was the Terry Fox that millions would soon see on their TV screens.
After that night, He went on a 14-month training program and told his family that what he would do would be to compete in a marathon himself. Behind the scenes, he he was constructing a deeper and more elaborate plan.
Fox’s time in hospitals and his experiences in them had made him angry at how little money was dedicated to cancer research. His intentions were not to run just a marathon, but to run the entire length of Canada in the hope of increasing cancer awareness. At first, his friend Douglas Alward was the only one he confided in. Alward would become the man that would drive the van and cook meals for Fox as he made his way across Canada.
Fox ran with an unusual gait, as he was required to do a “hop-step” action on his favored leg due to the extra time the springs in his artificial leg needed to reset back into place after each step. Training was painful as the extra pressure he had to place on both his good leg and his stump led to bone bruises, blisters and intense pain. Fox discovered that he would reach a pain threshold after 20 minutes of each run and after that, the running became easier.
In August 1979, Fox competed in a marathon in Prince George, British Columbia. He finished in last place, around ten minutes behind his closest competitor. But his fight through the marathon brought about the largest cheers and applause from not just the spectators, but from fellow competitors, too. It was then following the marathon that he revealed his full plan to his family. His mother discouraged him, which upset Fox, though she later showed her full support. She remembers,
“He said, ‘I thought you’d be one of the first persons to believe in me.’ And I wasn’t. I was the first person who let him down.”
Fox initially hoped to raise $1 million, then $10 million, but later strived for a goal of $24 million — signifying a dollar for each resident of Canada.
On October 15th, 1979, Fox sent a letter to the Canadian Cancer Society in which he explained his plan and also asked for funding towards what he was reaching for. He wrote defiantly that he would “conquer” his disability and promised to complete his run, even if he had to “crawl every last mile.” Explaining why he wanted to do this, he recalled what he went through himself:
“I soon realized that that would only be half my quest, for as I went through the 16 months of the physically and emotionally draining ordeal of chemotherapy, I was rudely awakened by the feelings that surrounded and coursed through the cancer clinic. There were faces with the brave smiles, and the ones who had given up smiling. There were feelings of hopeful denial, and the feelings of despair. My quest would not be a selfish one. I could not leave knowing these faces and feelings would still exist, even though I would be set free from mine. Somewhere the hurting must stop….and I was determined to take myself to the limit for this cause.”
The first steps
On April 12th, 1980, he took his first steps into his journey. Almost immediately, as though his crusade wasn’t hard enough, he was greeted with gale force winds, heavy rain and a snowstorm. He couldn’t hide his disappointment at the lack of attention his plight was receiving at first, but as he entered Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, he saw the residents of the town — some 10,000 — all there to greet and cheer him. Not only that, but presenting him with a donation of over $10,000.
The pressure Fox put himself under, along with what he considered unfair treatment and “lies” from some quarters of the press, made Fox frustrated and angry. He regularly fought with Alward due to the on-going struggles, and by the time they reached Nova Scotia, they were barely even speaking to one another. It was at this point that Fox’s brother, Darrell, joined him and Alward to act as a buffer.
More obstacles faced Fox as he entered Quebec in June. No one in his group spoke French, and inhabitants tried to force him off the road. Finally, on June 22nd, he arrived in Montreal and was about a third into his journey. At this this point, he had collected around $200,000.
Not long after this, the founder and CEO of Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts, Isadore Sharp, made contact with Fox. Sharp had lost his son to melanoma in 1978 — just one year after Fox’s diagnosis. He was fascinated with the story of the kid with one leg “trying to do the impossible.” Fox’s plan resonated with Sharp to such an extent that he offered food and accommodation at any of his hotels on the way. Also, seeing that Fox was losing hope at the lack of the donations he was receiving, Sharp pledged him $2 for every mile and persuaded nearly 1,000 other business and corporations to do the same. It was because of Sharp that Fox decided to continue the Marathon of Hope. The Canadian Cancer Society convinced him that if he were to that arrive in Ottawa for Canada Day, it would greatly aid his fundraising efforts, so he remained in Montreal for a few extra days.
The ball starts rolling
As Fox entered Hawkesbury during the last weekend of June, he was met with not only thousands upon thousands of people cheering and applauding and a brass band, but he was escorted through the province by the Ontario Provincial Police. Even though it was the height of the summer, he still ran 26 miles every day. When he finally got to Ottawa, he met Governor General Ed Schreyer and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and was made the guest of honor at a number of sporting events across the city.
In his journal, Fox wrote about his growing excitement that the nation was moved by his mission. In Toronto, where he was met by over 10,000 people, he was honored in Nathan Phillips Square. As he ran to the square, he was joined on the road by many people, including NHL star Darryl Sittler, who gave Fox his 1980 All-Star Game jersey. The Cancer Society estimated it collected $100,000 in donations in just one day. As he carried on throughout Ontario, he was also met by Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Orr, who presented him with a check for $25,000.
Fox’s body breaks down
By now, the physical demands of running a marathon every day were taking a heavy toll. Apart from the rest days in Montreal taken at the request of the Cancer Society, he refused to take a day off — even on his 22nd birthday. He was frequently suffering shin splints and an inflamed knee. He developed cysts on his stump and experienced dizzy spells. At one point, he suffered a soreness in his ankle that he couldn’t seem to shake off. Although he feared he had developed a stress fracture, he ran for another three days before seeking medical attention. To his relief, he learned it was tendonitis and could be treated with painkillers. Fox rejected calls for him to seek regular medical checkups and shrugged off suggestions that he was putting his health at risk.
Even though Fox had remarkable recuperative capacity, he found that by late August he was exhausted before he began his day’s run. On September 1st, outside of Thunder Bay, he was forced to stop briefly after he suffered an intense coughing fit and experienced pains in his chest. Not sure what he was supposed to do, he continued running as the line of crowds shouted their encouragement. Only a few miles further down the road, he found he had a severe shortness of breath and had chest pains.
He asked Alward to take him to the nearest hospital.
The next day, Fox held a press conference in which he announced that the cancer had spread to his lungs. The Marathon of Hope ended after 143 days in which he had covered 3,339 miles.
By the time his marathon was forced to end, Fox had raised $1.7 million. Aware that Canada was about to see the full horror of what cancer could do, he hoped one last push would raise a little more cash. Around a week after the run ended, CTV Television Network organized a nationwide telethon for his cause. With support from international celebrities, the five hour telethon brought in another $10.5 million. Even after the telethon ended, money still came in through the winter months. By April of the following year, over $23 million had been raised. Fox had such a status that letters sent from overseas would be delivered to him, despite only being marked “Terry Fox, Canada.”
Fox fought the cancer hard in the following months, undergoing many chemotherapy treatments. His condition deteriorated further and further to the point where doctors were looking for a miracle. (Fox even received a telegram from Pope John Paul II saying that he was praying for him.) Doctors tried everything they could think of, including new experimental techniques, but to no avail.
After falling into a coma at 4:35AM PDT on June 28th 1981, with his family by his side, Terry Fox died.
The Canadian government immediately ordered all flags to be lowered to half-mast — an unprecedented honor, because this was usually reserved for statesmen. While addressing the House of Commons, President Trudeau said,
“It occurs very rarely in the life of a nation that the courageous spirit of one person unites all people in the celebration of his life and in the mourning of his death. We do not think of him as one who was defeated by misfortune but as one who inspired us with the example of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity.”
His funeral was attended by 40 relatives and 200 guests, but was broadcast on national television. Many hundreds of communities, towns and villages across the Canadian nation also held memorials. A public memorial was held on Memorial Hill in Ottawa. Again, as once before during the telethon, Canada besieged the Cancer Society with more generous donations.
Terry Fox left a legacy behind him. Street names and signs, memorials and statues, schools, buildings and various landmarks can now be found all over the nation bearing his image and name. In 1983, Robert Duvall and amputee actor Eric Fryer paid homage to him in the biopic, “The Terry Fox Story.” A second movie simply entitled “Terry” was made in 2005 which focused more on the Marathon of Hope. In 2010, Canadian NBA star Steve Nash — who himself was inspired by Terry Fox when he was a child — directed a documentary called “Into The Wind” which aired on ESPN as part of its “30 For 30” series.
If ever a man displayed what it means not to accept defeat, it was Terry Fox. Never allowing thoughts of quitting to enter his mind, Terry Fox inspired millions with his courage, his tenacity and strength.
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