Terrance Stanley Fox

Terry Fox inspired Canada with his Marathon of Hope, a cross-Canada run to raise money for cancer research. From Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, he had lost his right leg to cancer at 18 and was driven by the suffering he had seen in other cancer patients. Determined not to leave this "World of Miracles" before a cure had been found, he planned a 5,300-mile marathon. After dipping his foot in the Atlantic, he began in St. John's, Newfoundland, on April 12, 1980, and ran 26 miles a day, crossing five provinces before reaching Ontario in June. Near this site, at mile 3,339, recurring cancer forced him to stop. His courage and perseverance inspired immense national pride and helped bring in $24 million for cancer research. He later became the youngest Companion of the Order of Canada when Governor General Edward Schreyer invested him with the country's highest civilian award on September 19, 1980. He was also named Canadian of the Year in 1980 and 1981, received the Lou Marsh Award for Canada's Outstanding Athlete of 1980, was posthumously inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame on August 29, 1981, and received the Order of the Dogwood, the American Cancer Society's Sword of Hope, and the Canadian Cancer Society's Terry Fox Citation of Honour.

Ontario · Canada