OnCo
peoplePerson

Terry Fox

After losing a leg to bone cancer at 18, he set out in 1980 to run across Canada for cancer research. He covered 5,373 km before the disease returned; the run he started has raised over C$850 million.

Terry Fox (1958-1981) was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in 1977 and had his right leg amputated above the knee. Moved by the children he met on the cancer ward, he began the Marathon of Hope on 12 April 1980 at St John's, Newfoundland, running close to a marathon a day on a prosthetic leg. He was forced to stop on 1 September 1980 outside Thunder Bay, Ontario, after 143 days and 5,373 km, when the cancer was found in his lungs. He died on 28 June 1981 at 22. The annual Terry Fox Run, held in Canada and dozens of countries, and the Terry Fox Foundation and Research Institute have since raised more than C$850 million for cancer research, and his name is one of the most recognised in Canadian public life.

Role
Patient whose Marathon of Hope built Canada's largest cancer research fundraiser
Specialisms
OsteosarcomaCancer fundraisingAdolescent and young adult cancer

Connected

5top