By Jason Misner
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, HDSB STAFF
Against the backdrop of a large poster marking the 30th anniversary of a cancer awareness run Terry Fox embarked upon that galvanized Canadians, brother Fred Fox urged Halton District School Board students to never be afraid of hard work and to follow your dream.
Fox was in town on Friday, October 1 to address three Halton public schools – Orchard Park, C.H. Norton and Tecumseh – prior to participating in a CBC special over the weekend in Toronto.
Using a slideshow presentation of photos, Fox spent around 25 minutes explaining to a hushed gymnasium of students the impact his brother had on the country and himself, and the lessons everyone could learn from Terry’s inspirational run.
He explains his brother’s never-give-up attitude was apparent from the age of four when he tried to build a block of pyramids on bumpy carpet.
“Each and everyone of you can be just like Terry,” Fred Fox explains. “My parents taught us that once we start something we see it to the end. We try our very best.”
Terry Fox was 18 years old when he was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) and forced to have his right leg amputated 15 centimetres (six inches) above the knee in 1977.
While in hospital, Terry was so overcome by the suffering of other cancer patients, many of them young children, that he decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. He called his journey the Marathon of Hope.
Terry started his run in St. John’s, Newfoundland on April 12, 1980. Enthusiasm grew and the money collected along his route began to mount. He ran 42 kilometres (26 miles) a day through Canada's Atlantic provinces, Quebec and Ontario.
However, on September 1st, after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 miles), Terry was forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario because cancer had appeared in his lungs. Terry Fox passed away on June 28, 1981 at the age 22.
After the speech, Fred Fox, a member of the Terry Fox Foundation, says he hopes students learned to work hard.
“Terry had to work hard to achieve some of the things he had, he had to work a little harder whether it was in school or playing sports, just that message that Terry was just like them and it just takes a little bit of determination and hard work and you an accomplish anything you want.”
To date, close to $500 million has been raised worldwide for cancer research.
Orchard Park Public School teacher Leigh Kennedy was instrumental in getting Fox to visit the area on October 1.
“The intent was to teach kids about who Terry was and why his message of challenging and believing in yourself is so important. Truly, the message was that kids can make a change and that it only takes one person to make a difference. We are trying to teach our kids to think globally,” Kennedy says.
C.H. Norton principal Diane Johnstone says Fox’s message about perseverance was powerful. She says she was reminded just how much Terry Fox still remains a national hero.
“Fred's message (I think) is that he hoped that Terry's legacy would be about being hopeful, setting goals and persevering through challenges. I would hope that our students feel hopeful and optimistic about their own lives, that they are able to set goals that help them realize their potential and finally that they are able to "stick to it" when the road becomes a bit rocky.
“Obviously, I hope the children also learned that as a school we can come together to help fight the war on cancer. I would guess that every child in our school, no matter how old or young has had their lives touched by a grandma, uncle, parent, sibling, a friend who has had cancer. Our fundraising efforts will go towards cancer research.
“When Fred came to speak at Norton, our staff, myself included, brought our own kids to school because we know how awesome this is – the story is so inspiring.”