About Terry Fox

Terry Fox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and raised in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, a community near Vancouver on Canada’s west coast. An active teenager involved in many sports, Terry was only 18 years old when he was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) and forced to have his right leg amputated 15 centimetres (six inches) above the knee in 1977.

While in hospital, Terry was so overcome by the suffering of other cancer patients, many of them young children, that he decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research.

He would call his journey the Marathon of Hope. After 18 months and running over 5,000 kilometres (3,107 miles) to prepare, Terry started his run in St. John’s, Newfoundland on April 12, 1980 with little fanfare.

Although it was difficult to garner attention in the beginning, enthusiasm soon grew, and the money collected along his route began to mount. He ran close to 42 kilometres (26 miles) a day through Canada’s Atlantic provinces, Quebec and Ontario.

However, on September 1st, after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 miles), Terry was forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario because cancer had appeared in his lungs. An entire nation was stunned and saddened. Terry passed away on June 28, 1981 at the age 22.

The heroic Canadian was gone, but his legacy was just beginning.

To date, over $900 million (£500 million) has been raised worldwide for cancer research in Terry’s name through the annual Terry Fox Run, held across Canada and in 30 countries around the world.

For more information about Terry Fox, visit the Terry Fox Foundation website.

Other Facts about Terry

Terry Fox was the youngest person ever named a Companion of the Order of Canada.
There are 14 schools and 15 roads in Canada named after Terry. (Including an 83-kilometre (52 mile) section of the Trans-Canada Highway, between Thunder Bay and Nipigon, is renamed the Terry Fox Courage Highway in Terry’s honour.)
Every year, millions of people in close to 30 countries participate in The National School Run Day, The Terry Fox Run, and Terry Fox fundraising events.
In 1999 national survey named him as Canada’s greatest hero, he finished second to Tommy Douglas in the 2004 program called The Greatest Canadian.
Today over C$900 million has been raised worldwide for cancer research in Terry’s name.