“I am not a dreamer, and I am not saying that this will initiate any kind of definitive answer or cure to cancer. But I believe in miracles. I have to.”
Those were the words of a 21-year-old kid from Port Coquitlam, getting set to embark on a journey that would grow beyond his wildest imaginings.
That young runner dipped his artificial leg into the waters of St. John’s harbour on April 12, 1980 to begin what was planned as a cross-country journey. He didn’t make it all the way; the cancer that had claimed his leg in 1977 was back and had spread to his lungs. On Sept. 1, 1980, he stopped running outside of Thunder Bay, Ont. He died less than a year later at Royal Columbian Hospital, one month shy of his 23rd birthday.
But the journey that Terry Fox began more than 37 years ago continues around the world as people of all ages and walks of life take to trails, tracks and sidewalks in his name. The run now involves millions of people in 25 countries around the globe.
Burnaby folks can turn out at Swangard Stadium on Sunday for this year’s edition. You can walk, run, bike or push a stroller at your own pace around a two-, five- or 10-kilometre course. There’s no entry fee, but you’re encouraged to collect pledges or make a donation – and, remember, every dollar matters.
When Terry Fox began his run all those years ago, his dream was to raise one dollar for every Canadian to help support cancer research. He had already achieved that goal before he died, as the money raised in his name had passed $24.1 million (then the population of Canada) by Feb. 1, 1981.
It has since gone on to surpass that amount many times over – by May 2016, the Terry Fox Foundation had raised more than $715 million to support cancer research.
So whether your contribution is a few loonies from the piggy bank or hundreds of dollars in pledges from friends and co-workers, you can rest assured that Terry would have welcomed it.
Cancer still claims far too many lives.
But thanks in no small part to the vision of one determined young Canadian, the advances in research and treatment are saving far more lives than we could have imagined a few short decades ago.
