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Terry
Fox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and raised in Port  Coquitlam,
British Columbia, a community near Vancouver on Canada's
west coast. An active teenager involved in many sports,
Terry was only 18 years old when he was diagnosed with osteogenic
sarcoma (bone cancer) and forced to have his right leg amputated
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
would call his journey the Marathon of Hope. As Terry said
in 1980: “If you’ve given a dollar, you are part
of the Marathon of Hope .”
After
18 months and running over 5,000 kilometres (3,107 miles)
to prepare, Terry started his run in St. John’s, Newfoundland
on April 12, 1980 with little fanfare. Although it was difficult
to garner attention in the beginning, enthusiasm soon 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.
It
was a journey that Canadians never forgot.
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. An
entire nation was stunned and saddened. Terry passed away
on June 28, 1981 at age 22.
The
heroic Canadian was gone, but his legacy was just beginning.
To
date, more than C$340 million has been raised worldwide for
cancer research in Terry's name through the annual Terry Fox
Run, held across Canada and around the world.
The
First Terry Fox Run
The first run was held in Canada on September 13, 1981. More
than 300,000 Canadians across the country participated at
760 Run sites to raise C$3.5 million for cancer research in
Terry’s name. Since it started in 1981, the Terry Fox
Run has become the largest single-day fundraising event for
cancer research held anywhere in the world. Each year, more
and more people in over 53 countries respond to Terry’s
dream of finding a cure for cancer by organizing over 480
Terry Fox runs.
Terry
Fox Runs in Singapore
Here in Singapore, the past Terry Fox Runs have been tremendously
successful. In the last thirteen years, over S$2.9 million
has been raised in aid of cancer research. What started as
a small event with 300 runners raising awareness and funds
for cancer research in 1993 has grown steadily throughout
the years. To date, over 75,000 runners have participated
in the annual Singapore Terry Fox Run.
In
2004, over 6,000 participants both young and old, ran either
a 4 km or a 8 km route on the island of Sentosa. In 2005,
some 5,000 participants braved through torrential rains at
Sentosa Island to raise S$200,000!
This
year, the Run has been renamed "SCS - RUN FOR HOPE"
in line with the organizers' focus on local community's and
in particular on Singapore Cancer Society's (SCS) Cancer Research
activities. For 2006 - the event hopes to raise at least S$250,000
through generous donations and Run For Hope participations
of companies, associations, schools and individuals.
To
view the photo gallery, please click here.
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