The Legacy of a Dream

On April 12, 1980 I had just turned 8 years old. Terry Fox, a boy from a town very close to mine, had just started his run across Canada. Everyone was very excited about this and we watched on TV every night. It was called The Marathon of Hope. At that young age I had no idea what cancer was, or the kind of impact it would have on my later life, nor had I reason or need for hope - but I knew a hero when I saw one.

"... by next April I will be ready to achieve something that for me was once only a distant dream reserved for the world of miracles – to run across Canada to raise money for the fight against cancer. The running I can do, even if I have to crawl every last mile. We need your help. The people in cancer clinics all over the world need people who believe in miracles.

I am not a dreamer, and I am not saying that this will initiate any kind of definitive answer or cure to cancer. But I believe in miracles. I have to..."

143 days later Terry told Canada that he had to stop his run. I remember he cried, or maybe it was me, I don't fully remember. It just all seemed so terribly unfair that even though he had tried so hard, even though he was so close, he would be unable to finish. That's when I learned that cancer was terribly unfair, and to prove it Terry died on June 28, 1981. He was only 22 years old.

Twenty five years later I have lost my Father, my Mother in law, two Aunts, an Uncle and countless friends-of-family (and family-of-friends) to this thing called cancer. Too many if you ask me. It's time to really do something about it. We need to find a cure, and to do that we need to fund as much research as neccessary.

We're sponsoring Toby in the Terry Fox Run. He is running in honour of his Mother, who died this year after a short fight with cancer. Please consider sponsoring him as well. Every little bit helps and it's for a good cause.

If you need any more convincing go and read Terry's Journal. It really is inspiring.

"If you’ve given a dollar, you are part of the Marathon of Hope."
- Terry Fox