Terry Fox: A True Hero

In the late 70s Real People, an offbeat precursor to today's reality TV boom, hit the airwaves. They usually profiled people like a pint-sized preacher and Disco Larry. But they really hit it out of the park with this profile of Canada's Terry Fox, a young man who became a true national hero by undertaking a cross-country run for cancer research after his own cancer diagnosis. Faced with almost insurmountable hip pain, Terry made it almost halfway across the country, never stopping until the spread of the cancer to his lungs forced him to.

I remember raising money for him when I was at the Glenrose School Hospital in Grade 2. We were all pulling for Terry to make it the whole way, and were heartbroken when he passed. But his accomplishments and humble nature live on in the yearly run that has been held across the country for nearly 40 years.


MTMG