I won a copy of Terry, the pictorial book by Douglas Coupland, on Tuesday, the 25th anniversary.  CBC Radio's BC Almanac
asked listeners to phone in with their memories of Terry Fox.  All
people who got to speak on radio also had their names put in a draw for
the book.

I shared that Terry is very special to me because as a Terry's Team
member, I speak at Terry Fox Runs and elementary schools every
September.  It's been a blessing to meet the Fox Family and the
friends and coaches that Terry had. I explained that many Terry's Team
members say that they probably wouldn't be alive today if cancer
research hadn't progressed in the years since Terry's Run. Host Mark Forsythe  then asked what kind of cancer I had.

It was a great radio tribute to Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope as I had spent the morning listening to “Sounds Like Canada” host, Shelagh Rogers,
interview Terry's mother Betty, brother Darrell, and friend Doug
Alward, about their reflections and memories about Terry starting off
on his Marathon of Hope from Mile 0, in St. John's Newfoundland.

The show highlighted the unveiling of a “Mile 0” monument, and much
discussion was about what it was like as Terry dipped his artificial
leg into the St. John's harbour, filled up a jug of water to empty into
the Pacific Ocean, and started his run through the province of
Newfoundland.

Here is the Canadian Press story.
I saw a picture of the monument in the Vancouver Sun, but have yet to find a picture on the internet.

Terry Fox Memorial unveiled at “Mile 0” in St. John's Newfoundland.

Twenty-five years ago on April 12, Terry Fox began his Marathon of
Hope journey with the quest to raise awareness and funds for cancer
research.  Click here for the story from CBC. 

I am anxiously awaiting the start of CBC Radio's Sounds Like Canada program to hear host Shelagh Rogers report “live” with the Fox family.  At
the same time, Doug Coupland's new book Terry gets it's official
launch. The Fox family and Doug Coupland join Shelagh Rogers on a
special Sounds Like Canada live from the Battery Hotel in St. John's,
Newfoundland.

Terry Fox inspires many people and many ideas.  He is the
quintesential Canadian hero – thinking of others… wanting to help
relieve the suffering of others.

Personally, I am very interested in following the stories for three reasons: 

1) In 1989, I almost died from a near-fatal cancer tumor in my
chest.  A large tumor, the size of a large grapefruit, was
displacing my vital organs – filling my lungs half-full with fluids,
choking my vena cava (where the blood returns to the heart), and
causing internal bruising.  At the time, they said treatment
survivorship had been 50% ten years before, but in 1989 they were
“shooting for 100%.”  But my tumor had been found late… and so
they only give me a 60% chance of survival, and later told me that
without treatment, I would have died in two weeks.  On June 21, I
started receiving chemotherapy that would last for five months.

2) I am a Terry's Team Member
– Cancer survivors who serve as living
examples that cancer research has made a difference.  We speak at
Terry Fox Runs throughout the country, and at elementary schools. 
I have been a Terry's Team member since 1993, and have spoken at run
sites throughout the Greater Vancouver area such as Vancouver, North
Vancouver, West Vancouver, Burnaby, North Delta… + Kelowna BC, and
even Beijing China in 1993.  I am always amazed to hear the
stories from other Terry's Team members, it's a special survivor
kinship that we would hope nobody else will have to experience.

3) I helped to create a Terry Fox Day
and Terry Fox Run at Simon Fraser University in 1994, and a trophy case
dedicated to Terry was unveiled.  In 1991, a statue of Terry was
unveiled at a re-invigorated Terry Fox Day. Thousands of SFU students can now see everyday, that Terry was a student, just like them.

25 Years of Hope – The Legacy of Terry Fox

If you have memories of Terry and would like to share what he means to you, please click here. 
CBC will possibly the stories for on television, radio, internet and
given to Douglas Coupland for inclusion for a new book.

For my article and pictures of the Canadian Mint coin unveiling at Simon Fraser University March 14,2005 click here

Maclean's Magazine published a good story about Terry Fox by Ken MacQueen their April 1 issue, titled The Relentless Terry Fox.

MacQueen accompanied Fox for three days along the Marathon of Hope back
in 1980, in Ontario.  He gives some of the background stories,
about some of the frustrations on the tour, the sacrifice of Darrell
Fox's high school graduation ceremony so he could join his brother
Terry, the anguish of Betty Fox “giving up two sons to the road.”

“It was a stupid thing to do,” says Betty Fox reflecting on her son's
quest to run across Canada on one leg, “really stupid.” 
“It was supposed to happen,” she says next
reflecting how all the pieces fell into place to create one of Canada's
singular moments of history.  “I believe he was supposed to get
cancer. And do this run
for cancer research.”  Then, as with a tear wrenching realization
she concludes,  “He wasn't meant to . . . to live.”

MacQueen also reflects on how true the Terry Fox Run Foundation has
stayed to Terry's wishes.  There is no corporate sponsorship, no
endorsements, no event or company tie-ins.  It is a very lean
operation that Terry's brother Darrell runs as national director of the
organization.

Attending the Canadian Mint coin unveiling at Simon Fraser University
on March 14th, MacQueen sees all the people who played important roles
in Terry's development and his dream; his parents and siblings, his
coaches, his best friend Doug Alward, his friend Rick Hansen. MacQueen
poses the questions about how rare an occurence a Terry Fox comes along
in a country's history, and concludes that Terry Fox had a tremendous
support system.  Rick Hansen called his old friend “the instrument
of a dream” and says, “The vision behind it is so captivating it doesn't always just depend on one individual.”

 It's a good story.

For my personal account and pictures of attending the coin unveiling click here.

Darrell Fox interview in Vancouver Sun today: Terry's younger brother

Good interview in today's (Friday April 8th) Vancouver Sun with Darrell
Fox, the younger brother of Terry Fox and now national director of the
Terry Fox Run Foundation, page B2-B3 of the Westcoast section.

I first met Darrell in 1993, when he invited me to come to the BC/Yukon
office of the Terry Fox Run Foundation where he was then executive
director.  He also invited me to become a Terry's Team member – to
speak at runs and elementary schools as a living example that cancer
research has made a difference.  I liked Darrell immediately then,
and I believe this Vancouver Sun article does him justice. 
Darrell has always put Terry Fox first, he always asks the question,
“What would Terry think?”

This article explains the special bond that Darrell always had with his
older middle brother.  Darrell went to Newfoundland to help
accompany Terry and Terry's best friend Doug Alward on the Marathon of
Hope.  Darrell took Terry's death pretty hard, and still does.

As national director of the Terry Fox Run Foundation, Darrell is
fiercely proud that 87 cents of every dollar raised goes into cancer
research.  The Terry Fox Run Foundation has one of the highest
benefit to cost ratio for a large non-profit organizaton – all the more
amazing when you realize that no corporate sponsorship is accepted.