45 years later, Terry Fox's brother retraces the first steps of the Marathon of Hope

Abby Cole · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 12, 2025 4:05 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

On April 12, 1980, Terry Fox wrote successful his diary, "Today is the time it each begins," aft starting his Marathon of Hope successful St. John's, Nfld. 

On Saturday, Terry's older brother Fred Fox returned to Mile 0, the spot wherever it each started 45 years ago, and ran the way to the metropolis hallway arsenic his member did years ago. 

"He could ne'er person imagined what those words would mean, each these years later," said Fred Fox.

On his accomplishment astatine metropolis hall, St. John's Mayor Danny Breen placed the Chain of Office astir his neck, replicating the honour fixed to Terry Fox successful 1980. Volunteers, crab patients and crab researchers gathered for the occasion. 

Before retracing his brother's steps connected Saturday, Fox had spent the week visiting schools and speaking to students astir Terry Fox's cause, successful a bid to promote much radical to fundraise for crab research. 

About $900 cardinal has been raised for crab probe successful Terry Fox's name, said Fred Fox, who added that his member would have been arrogant to spot however helium has inspired people. 

"People are surviving [a] crab diagnosis due to the fact that of what Terry started present 45 years ago," said Fox. "Finding a cure for crab is getting person each day." 

Remembering 45 years ago

Terry Fox was 21 erstwhile he dipped his prosthetic close limb into the Atlantic Ocean and headed west, determined to tally the full 8,000 oregon truthful kilometres to the shores of Victoria, B.C., to rise wealth for crab research.

After moving the equivalent of adjacent to a marathon a time for 143 consecutive days, his travel ended aft astir 5,400 kilometres, near Thunder Bay, Ont., erstwhile the crab that had outgo him his limb dispersed to his lungs. He died 10 months later. 

On Saturday, the assemblage assembled astatine St. John's metropolis hallway included radical who were determination erstwhile the Fox started his run. 

In 1980, Bill Strong was a tract supervisor with the Newfoundland part of the Canadian Cancer Society and was the designated unit assets idiosyncratic for Terry Fox erstwhile helium arrived. 

Strong said he and Terry Fox spent clip unneurotic and became friends. 

He remembers lone having 1 week's announcement that Terry Fox was coming, meaning that preparations were speedy and impromptu.

"We were each unsure of however this was going to go," said Strong, adding that helium had nary thought of however large Terry Fox's question would become. 

Terry Fox's relationship changed Strong's life, and helium said it was a privilege to cognize him. 

"He was axenic to his cause. And that is thing that motivates each of america into each our pursuits."

Fundraising 'critical' for crab research

Today, wealth raised by the Terry Fox Foundation goes toward innovative crab probe projects, including the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network. 

This network, inspired by Terry Fox's mission, aims to bring unneurotic Canadian researchers to collaborate and instrumentality precision medicine crab treatments, said Sherri Christian, a biochemistry prof astatine Memorial University successful St. John's, who leads the network's Atlantic Cancer Consortium. 

"Precision medicine is making definite that the diligent gets precisely the close attraction astatine precisely the close clip for their peculiar cancer," said Christian. 

Fundraising is critical, Christian added, noting probe can't hap without it. 

Christian says the lawsuit reinvigorated her vigor to support going. 

"Research tin beryllium hard. It doesn't ever spell the mode you privation it to," she said. "To spot the radical who are fundraising, the radical who are affected by cancer, each successful the aforesaid country is truly motivating."

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