Thought Patterns
by Emanuel
He is one of Canada’s greatest icons and July 28th, 2008 marks his 50th birthday, although Terry Fox passed away one month before turning 23, after four years of battling bone cancer which took his right leg. Here’s what the Simon Fraser University web site has to say about him:
Terry was an 18 year old first year Kinesiology student at SFU and a member of the SFU junior varsity basketball team in 1977 when he was diagnosed with bone cancer that resulted in the amputation of his right leg six inches above the knee. After undergoing chemotherapy and seeing other people, particularly children, suffering with cancer, Terry decided that he wanted to make a difference in the world, he wanted to do something to help cure this dreadful disease.
Terry began his Marathon of Hope on April 12, 1980 in St. John’s Newfoundland. When he was forced by a recurrence of cancer to stop his cross-Canada run at Thunder Bay, Ontario, on September 1, 1980, he had completed a total of 5,373 km over 143 days, the equivalent of a marathon every day. After a courageous battle with cancer he passed away in June 1981.
Few people are aware of the physical enormity of what Terry did in his Marathon of Hope run across Canada. He ran 26 miles per day, 7 days per week. Imagine how sore your legs would be if you walked 26 miles day after day on pavement. Imagine how much sorer your legs would be if you ran 26 miles day after day. Few people could stand up to such punishment. Then try to imagine how incredibly difficult and painful it would be to run 26 miles per day with an artificial limb. It is almost beyond comprehension.
He is so inspiring that I get goose bumps simply by reading what he did. I walk by his statue on campus everyday and it is a great reminder of what we humans are capable of accomplishing once we set our minds to it.
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PrInci
Très intéressant et surtout très inspirant. Quel courage ! Tu m’as aussi donné des frissons. grazie mille…
Cendrix
Disons que ça remets nos petits bobos en perspective et ça nous rend ça difficile de se plaindre…
Je cours chaque année le jour de son anniversaire et cette année je l’ai raté mais je me suis repris le lendemain
Es-tu prêt pour Richmond ?
Emanuel
C’est une bonne idée de faire une course à sa mémoire à chaque année, je vais adopter ton idée et la faire mienne. Merci et je suis certain que nous aurons l’occasion de faire une course ensemble avant le 28 juillet prochain