Terry Fox :: essays research papers

terry cloth Fox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but repeald in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, a community near Vancouver on Canadas tungsten coast. As an active teenager involved in many sports, in 1977 Terry was only 18 years old when he was diagnosed with deck out cancer and forced to have his right leg amputated sixer inches supra the knee. The night before his operation, Terry read an article about an amputee who had competed in the New York Marathon. Indirectly that story, along with Terrys observations of the intense suffering of cancer patients, situated the stage for what would ultimately become the most important decision of his preteen life. In 1980, Terry Fox inspired the nation by attempting to hunt across Canada with an artificial leg. He called this journey the Marathon of Hope. Its mission was to raise money and awareness for cancer research in Canada.With little to no attention, Terry started his journey in St. Johns, Newfoundland on April 12, 1980. Althoug h it was difficult to choose attention in the beginning, hype soon grew, and the money collected along his route began to rise. He ran 43 kilometers a day through Canadas Atlantic Provinces, Quebec and Ontario. September 1, 1980 -- it was a dull day in Northern Ontario when Terry Fox ran his last miles. After 18 miles he started coughing and mat a pain in his chest. Terry knew how to cope with pain. Hed despite it as he always had before, hed simply keep going until the pain went away.For 3,339 miles, from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canadas easterly most city on the shore of the Atlantic, hed run through six provinces and now was two-thirds of the way home. Hed run close to a marathon a day, for 144 days.