Fox brings inspiring message to Hamiota

HAMIOTA — Terry Fox would have never imagined the difference he has made in cancer research, his older brother told a crowd of students in Hamiota on Thursday.

Fred Fox made appearances at several Westman schools and communities during the last week, telling people about the brothers’ time growing up, Terry’s competitive spirit and the difference he made and continues to make today.

“After the Terry Fox runs started in 1981, Mom and Dad were told, ‘Expect this to only last three or four years. People will forget Terry,’ and that certainly hasn’t happened,” Fox told a crowd of about 125 students and staff at Hamiota Collegiate Institute.

Fox said when his brother was first diagnosed with cancer, they didn’t know what the disease was.

“Terry and I had no idea what cancer was, or how serious it was, or what it could mean. People didn’t talk about cancer in the same way that we do today,” he said.

Following Terry’s 1977 cancer diagnosis, Terry realized that there wasn’t a lot of money being raised for cancer research at the time, Fox said.

Terry’s Marathon of Hope in 1980 helped turn that around.

“It didn’t matter how sick Terry was, how much pain he was in — he was more worried about other people,” Fox said.

The Marathon of Hope started in St. John’s, N.L., with Terry running a marathon per day with a prosthetic leg across the country.

Terry’s initial goal for the Marathon of Hope was to raise $1 million. But that soon changed to a goal of $24 million, equal to one dollar for every person in Canada at the time.

During his presentation, Fox also highlighted a time when he and a crowd ran alongside Terry in Toronto.

“It was amazing to run with Terry, to see the commitment, dedication, the focus in every painful step that he took,” Fox said.

“Terry Fox wasn’t running to become famous. Wasn’t running to become a Canadian hero. He wasn’t running to benefit or to become rich from what he was doing. None of that stuff mattered. Terry was running because he wanted to help other people.”

Terry was forced to stop his run near Thunder Bay, Ont., after his cancer returned and spread to his lungs.

He had run 5,373 kilometres over 143 days. Fox died the next year at a hospital in British Columbia. He was 22.

The Terry Fox Foundation has since raised more than $1 billion for cancer research.

Death rates from cancer have decreased and quality of life has increased, Fox said.

“The fundraising that your community of Hamiota has been doing for so many years, you need to know that the fundraising for cancer research is making a difference,” he told the crowd.

Fox’s presentation also touched on his family’s connection to Westman, including his mom being born in Boissevain and growing up in Melita, and visiting his grandparents in Ninette.

The Fox siblings were born in Manitoba and later moved to B.C.

“Terry truly believed that he was just an average, ordinary Canadian kid, not the best athlete, not the best student in class,” Fox said.

“Terry showed us in 1981 when he was running across Canada that one person, one person with a dream, can make a difference. Each and every one of you, no matter what you want to do today or whatever your plans are in the future, you can make a difference as well.”

Ariana Lints, a Grade 8 student, said she really liked Fox’s roughly 45-minute speech that included a slideshow presentation.

“I liked hearing about his story and more about how he was when he was younger, and how much hope and determination he had,” Lints said.

She said hearing about Terry’s family, and how they were and still are affected, was good.

“We are a smaller town, so I think that I’m really glad that he was able to come stop at our school,” Lints said.

Fellow student Brooke Cassidy said the story Fox presented was “amazing” and “very heartbreaking.”

“It’s very inspiring hearing family and their perspective on Terry and how it would affect … other people in their lives if they struggle with the same thing,” the Grade 11 student said.

Hamiota Collegiate Institute principal Beccy Ardiel said students have learned about Terry since they were young and it’s good to put a face to the name.

“I think just that little personal touch just makes it more realistic to the students,” Ardiel said.

She said she hopes this will inspire students to participate a little more or collect pledges when Terry Fox-related activities happen in the fall.

Fox’s tour also included stops in Russell, Rossburn, Sandy Lake, Rapid City, Inglis, Waywayseecappo First Nation, Shoal Lake, Strathclair, Miniota, Birtle and Binscarth.

» alambert@brandonsun.com