He spent 143 days before he died. Terry Fox was born in Canada in 1958 In 1977, Terry began to feel pain in his right knee, he was diagnosed with bone cancer.
Doctors had to amputate his right leg above the knee. Three years later, the young athlete decides to run through the whole country from the ocean to the ocean. The purpose of the race is to collect donations for cancer research. He wanted to raise one dollar for every Canadian citizen. For more than a year, he trained daily, because he well understood that even a healthy person cannot overcome such a distance without preliminary preparation.
Terry Fox began Marathon of Hope on April 12, 1980, with his foot in the Atlantic Ocean, and intended to dip it a second time in the Pacific Ocean in Vancouver. He ran an average of 42 km a day, but the disease progressed, and he ran in constant pain, with a prosthesis instead of a leg. Only a great strength of will and the desire to help millions of fellow unfortunate moved him forward.
He could not finish the marathon. The cancer spread to the lungs, and Terry Fox was forced to break the distance on September 1, 1980. He stopped near the town of Thunder Bay (northern Ontario) after 143 days of continuous marathon running 5,373 km through the provinces of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. Ten months later, before his 23rd birthday, Terry died.
By February 1981, just over $24 million had been raised, but most importantly, it managed to attract the attention of the general public. Now in Canada and more than 50 countries around the world annually held charity runs named after Terry Fox in the fund of donations for the study of cancer. Terry Fox Run is listed in the record books as the largest single fundraising campaign in the world. Now, after 25 years of development, the Terry Fox Foundation has grown to $360 million, so with the help of millions of people, Terry Fox’s efforts are not in vain.
Canadian authorities named the icebreaker after Terry Fox. The ship was launched in 1983.
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