Terry Fox

© Gail Harvey

People always talked about Terry’s determination.

His passion was basketball, but because he was only five feet tall, his coach recommended long distance running. Despite no desire for the sport, he laced up his shoes to please the coach. He eventually made the high school team and worked hard enough to earn a spot on his college basketball team in British Columbia.

Soon after that, though, Terry noticed a pain in his right knee that began to intensify. Doctors determined it to be osteosarcoma, an aggressive form of bone cancer. His entire leg had to be amputated. Terry barely slowed, however. He made an uncompromising commitment to overcome his disability. He joined a wheelchair basketball team, which he led to three national championships. He also strapped on a prosthetic leg and began running. Again.

He ran marathons and realized that running could do more than just keep him in shape. Terry set out to run across Canada—from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific—to raise money for cancer research. He called it the Marathon of Hope. He ran 143 days, almost 3,500 miles. Before he finished, however, his cancer returned and spread to his lungs.

After Terry’s death, his family organized the Terry Fox Run, still one of the largest, one-day fundraising events of its kind in the world. Since 1981, the run has raised over $500 million Canadian for cancer research.

His was an investment in a life of uncompromising commitment.