Megan Turner - Period 6/7
Terry Fox - Fighting for a Cure for Cancer
Terry Fox is the most recognized person on Earth so far. Do you know the reason why he is on the top of the list? The main reason is that he battled against cancer, which benefited his society. He wanted to inform that anyone could have tumors and a malignant growth and it actually existed. He ran across Canada with an amputated leg and gave around 3.5 million dollars to the cancer research organization, which was unbelievable for a person with a disability. Terry Fox, a Canadian student at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia who was diagnosed with bone cancer fought for a cure for cancer.
I personally believe that fighting for something that benefits a society, like a cure for diseases, is worth fighting for because the people helped will be very grateful and their lives could be totally changed. Terry Fox fought for a cure for cancer, which benefitted the other people who had the same disease as him. This makes him a hero. Terry Fox’s actions to make a difference is some evidence that supports my claim. In 1997, the young Canadian freshman amputated his right leg about six inches above his knee in order to prevent the cancer spreading to his entire leg. Nobody really knows for sure how Terry got cancer although some of the effects of this problem were making Terry have an artificial leg do active sports, loss of physical feeling, and create a risk of cracking the bone. When he realized that he got this disease, he was infuriated at how little money was spent on cancer research in Canada. Terry noticed that cancer not only affects the elderly but also kids younger than him.
After Fox read an article about Dick Traum, the first amputee to compete the New York City Marathon, he got inspired and turned his anger into a mission. He made a goal to run across Canada to raise awareness and money in his fight against cancer, which was known as the Marathon of Hope. Terry came up with an idea to persuade every Canadian citizen to at least donate $1 to the cancer research facilities by making everyone realize that cancer is a common disease. “Some Canadians said they felt a little squeamish at the newspaper and television pictures of his occasionally bloody stump and his face contorted in pain.” - Time (Source: Findingdulcinea.com). This quote states that Terry’s solution is becoming successful as when he ran with an artificial leg, this left the audience questioning about the Terry Fox’s run and felt empathy and sorrow for him. By fighting for a cure for a disease, Terry Fox instantly became a famous person and news about him spread across Canada. When he arrived to Toronto, 10,000 people greeted him including Darryl Sittler, a professional ice hockey player who gave Terry his jersey. The crowd promoted Terry to carry on his fundraising goal from $1 to $24 million dollars. “"With me it isn't a political or racial thing, it's just a human thing. Cancer can strike anybody. I'm trying to help out everyone with my run."- Terry Fox (Source: Funtrivia.com). This quote by Terry Fox suggests that Terry is running in order for the society to increase the amount of money donated to the cancer research facilities, which will then be used to find a cure for the disease. To find a cure for the disease, Terry wanted to donate money to the cancer research organization in order to help his community out.
Some people that supported Terry to continue fighting for a solution were Darrell Fox, his brother and his crew. Darrell and his crew decided to help Terry to accomplish his goal by making sure that he was safe by riding on a rotational vehicle behind Terry. Everyday Terry would run at least 23.3 miles continuously for 143 days (Source: Findingdulcinea.com) and his brother would encourage him to keep on running. Also, Terry slept in his brother’s car and would rest there after his tiring run so without his brother’s help, Terry would’ve failed to achieve his desires to encourage the need to donate to the cancer research. “"It was where he slept, perspired and was protected from the madness outside when chaos ruled the day as interest in his story picked up." - Darrell Smith (Source: Canada.com). This quote is shows some evidence that Darrell protected his younger brother by providing him shelter, protection and rest by accompanying Terry in his Marathon of Hope. As a result, Darrell Fox and his crew are some of the members that were part of Terry’s success in his fight to stand against cancer.
Even though Terry Fox died on June 28, 1981 at the age of 22, Terry’s fight caused people to realize that nothing is impossible unless you try, take a stand to cancer, and made everyone think carefully about what he was running for. People across the world were very astonished at Terry Fox as he almost ran across Canada without a proper leg, which made the people think and find more information about Terry and what he did to become a notable. This also motivated lots of runners to finish the Marathon of Hope for Terry Fox by annually participating in the Terry Fox Run. The Terry Fox Run held every September in Canada and 50 other countries, raised more than $400 million dollars for cancer research. Terry set an example that anything is possible if you give 100% effort. Therefore the Canadian was also an inspiration to other people in the world which also made them follow Terry by competing in the annual run for Terry Fox. Even every year at ISKL (International School of Kuala Lumpur), everyone has to run across the field during their physical education class so that they could make the runners push themselves and believe that they could run lots of laps. People got inspired by Terry as Terry clearly showed that even though he lost a leg, he made an effort to reach across Canada. I can infer that Terry faced obstacles such as pain in his leg during his run although he didn’t even dare to stop. This proves to me that Terry thinks that fighting for a cure for a disease is important to his society and the future. He doesn’t want the future generations to suffer from cancer so his run shows his care towards his people. Even though Terry had past away, his actions based on trying to support the cancer research facilities made a huge impact on the society by making people understand that anything can happen if you try, fight for cancer, and made everyone comprehend his purpose of the fight.
“It’s one thing to run across Canada, but now, people are really going to know what cancer is.” - Terry Fox (Source: Terryfox.org). Because of Terry’s run across Canada, it really made the people become aware of cancer. Terry Fox is a role model of a best fighter, a runner, and a disabled person. Even though his cancer spread across his body, he managed to get what he wanted which was making people know about cancer. So next time you attend the Terry Fox Run, don’t stop running. If Terry Fox could run with an amputated leg, you too can run.
This is a picture of Terry Fox running in the Marathon of Hope.
