Terry Fox's perseverance allowed him to achieve his athletic goals in adolescence and youth.
No friend had the patience to spend hours and hours solving any problem or reaching the end of a game.
Perhaps this quality made him a somewhat lonely person, but it forged in him a competitive and winning character that helped him to improve himself in sport and also in life.
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The incredible story of Terry Fox told in 25 tweets
The diagnosis of an osteosarcoma in his right knee and the subsequent amputation of the leg when he was just 18 years old, far from becoming a trauma, meant an incentive for him.
On the one hand, to continue practicing sports and, on the other, to make everyone aware of the disease and at the same time raise funds for cancer research.
The suffering that he had known in other patients in the hospital during his chemotherapy treatment encouraged him to try to travel the country from west to east with a daily marathon despite his new limitations with the aim of raising at least one Canadian dollar for each citizen and complete around 8,000 kilometers.
He was unable to complete his challenge because the cancer reappeared and became irreversible.
Terry Fox passed away before his 23rd birthday, but his
Marathon of Hope
legacy
lives on every year in many countries and has raised more than 800 million dollars (more than 675 million euros) since 1981.
His example and his tenacity crossed borders and the recognition and tributes came to him from all corners and sectors of Canada and also from the rest of the world.
Fox did not want to hide the disease, but to give it visibility and normality, and he did so with an initiative that continues throughout the world to continue advancing in research and to cure any type of cancer.
Terrance Stanley Fox was born on July 28, 1958 in Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, in Canada.
He got his name from two uncles, his mother and father, who called each other that, although everyone always called him Terry.
He was the second of four siblings, of which only the little one was a woman.
His father worked as a switchman in the National Railway Company, while his mother devoted herself body and soul to education and caring for minors at home in the early years and later worked in a stationery store.
In the mid-1960s his family moved from Winnipeg to Vancouver and then to Port Coquitlam, where he spent the rest of his life.
Terry was a calm boy, persevering and patient with what he proposed.
He was a great competitor in any sport, but most of all he liked basketball.
He was not skillful or tall, but despite invitations from his teachers to play other sports like wrestling or track, he always wanted to play basketball.
He started out as the last reserve and barely played a minute, but in the summers he practiced and improved so much that he became essential in the team and even in the last year of high school he received the title of Athlete of the Year.
After graduating Fox entered the Kinesiology program at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, in the fall of 1976. His goal was to become a Physical Education teacher and continue playing sports, so he was accepted into the varsity basketball team.
On November 12, 1976, Fox had a small car accident due to a mistake.
He was unharmed except for a small wound on his knee that was slow to heal and whose pain was increasing.
On March 3, 1977, he was given an unexpected diagnosis: instead of a torn ligament, which Fox thought was the problem, he had a malignant tumor.
You were diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma, a rare type of cancer that is relatively more likely to develop in young men than women.
In the late 1970s, treatment consisted of amputation, followed by chemotherapy to ensure that there was no spread of cancer cells.
One week after the diagnosis he underwent surgery and quickly got used to crutches and received physical therapy to walk with a prosthetic leg.
His optimism was praised by all and shortly after the operation he returned to practicing his favorite sport, basketball, but now in a wheelchair, winning three national titles with his new team and becoming a fundamental piece.
The 16 months of chemotherapy he received was deeply marked by the many young children he met whose cases were more severe than his own.
There he realized the plight of cancer victims and the need to find cures for the various forms of the disease.
Terry Fox read a magazine article about Dick Traum, who had run the New York City marathon on his prosthetic leg.
This story was inspiring to him and gave him the idea of racing across Canada to raise money for cancer research.
In early 1979 he began training on his own and participated in a marathon, in which he finished last.
At that moment he decided on his next challenge of touring the country, from west to east with marathons in favor of cancer research.
The route would be 8,530 kilometers and running 30 miles (48 kilometers) per day, he could leave St. John's on April 12, 1980 and reach Port Renfrew on September 10, in a period that would allow him to avoid most of the cold.
He asked for help by letter from all levels and organizations and received some responses that allowed him to get going.
Ford donated a motorhome, Imperial Oil provided the fuel and Adidas provided the footwear.
His prosthetist built him a prosthesis using a shock absorber, but Fox didn't like this device and they went back to a more traditional prosthetic leg, albeit with some modifications for long-distance racing (stainless steel to prevent rust from the sweat of the runner).
The training was very hard for him because the extra pressure on both his left leg and his stump caused bruises, blisters and severe pain.
The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) proposed the name Marathon of Hope to the initiative and challenge of raising one million dollars.
Fox began his challenge and gradually gained support for his cause throughout his journey.
The media became interested in his deed and he was received as a hero in the towns where he arrived.
In the afternoon he gave talks with students and on more than one occasion he had to deviate from the planned route to fulfill these commitments.
Upon arriving in Ontario on September 1, Terry felt weaker than usual and experienced frequent dizziness.
After suffering intense chest pain, she asked to see a doctor.
The tests determined that the cancer had spread and had a tumor in each lung.
The one in the left lung, the size of a fist, was too close to her heart to be operable.
Chemotherapy was the only solution.
The next day he announced at a press conference that he had to give up his marathon for a while, but vowed to continue as soon as he could.
She returned home to her family and began treatment.
He had completed 5,373 kilometers, an average of 42 per day, and had raised $ 1.7 million.
From that moment on, donations increased and Fox began receiving letters and telegrams of encouragement and support from around the world.
Former United States President Gerald Rudolph Ford and Pope John Paul II were among the sympathizers, as were thousands of Canadians.
Many newspapers suggested that he had done more for national unity than anyone else.
The CTV television network quickly organized a five-hour telethon that aired on September 9 and raised $ 10 million.
On February 1, 1981, Fox achieved his dream of raising a dollar for every Canadian;
the country had 24.1 million inhabitants at that time and the Marathon of Hope had raised $ 24.7 million.
On September 18, 1980, Fox became the youngest person to receive the Order of Canada.
On October 21, Prime Minister William Richards Bennett awarded him the highest honor in British Columbia, the Order of Council;
on November 22, the American Cancer Society awarded him the Sword of Hope;
On December 18, his athletic feat was recognized with the Lou Marsh Award, awarded by representatives of the Canadian sports media to the Best Athlete of the Year in the country;
and on December 23 he was chosen as the Canadian of the Year by the Association of the Press of the Country.
Fox agreed to act as a script consultant for a film to be produced about him, and was told that a stamp would be released and a statue would be erected in his honor.
During this time, at the suggestion of Isadore Sharp, it was agreed that Four Seasons Hotels and the Cancer Association would host an annual fundraising run at locations across Canada.
Terry Fox's Run would become a tradition.
Terry Fox died on June 28, 1981, a month short of his 23rd birthday.
His death received worldwide coverage and the flags were flown at half mast, an honor generally reserved for politicians and government leaders.
Terry Fox's legacy is his tremendous fundraising success and accomplishments for cancer research.
Today, people of all ages participate in the annual local races held in his memory.
Thanks to the money raised through the Fox Foundation, there has been considerable progress in the treatment of various cancers, notably the fact that osteogenic sarcoma can now be treated without amputation.
Another part of his legacy has to do with the culture of solidarity, as he not only inspired people to actively participate in fundraising, but was the first to do so through a sports initiative that later spread throughout the world and that today is used for a multitude of causes.
