Terry Fox

Terrance Stanley Fox, CC ( born July 28, 1958 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, † June 28, 1981 in New Westminster, Canada) was a Canadian athlete, philanthropist and activist for the treatment of cancer. He was known for his Marathon of Hope.

Life

Terry Fox grew up in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, near Vancouver on Canada's west coast at. Due to its numerous sporting activities and the regular medical examinations related he was diagnosed with at the age of 18 years, a bone sarcoma (bone cancer). 1977 his right leg was amputated 15 centimeters above the knee.

The suffering of other cancer patients who Terry Fox met in the hospital ( including many children ), he took the opportunity to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. His aim was, daily 42 km to cover the distance of a marathon. Called this run he Marathon of Hope (Marathon of Hope).

After 18 months and over 5000 miles in preparation for accrued Terry Fox started its run on 12 April 1980 in St. John's, Newfoundland. Although his Marathon of Hope in the beginning, very little attention and thus the amounts collected were quite low, won his commitment soon more attention in the media and the donations increased.

On 1 September 1980, after 143 days and 5373 kilometers overflowed, Fox's lungs were so badly infected by the cancer that he was forced to end his run prematurely. It was at this point of time near Thunder Bay, Ontario. On June 28, 1981 Terry Fox died at the age of 22 years with this disease.

Honors

Honors during his lifetime

Posthumous honors

Effect

His commitment to cancer research enjoys a lot of attention today. So names are still in Fox's collected donations for cancer research. In many countries of the world, there are annual Terry Fox runs.