In 1976, when Terry Fox was just eighteen years old, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and his right leg was amputated just above the knee. It quickly became his mission to help cure cancer so others would not have to endure what he had gone through. He dreamed up a Marathon of Hope - a fundraising run across Canada, from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Victoria, British Columbia. 5,300 miles.
When he set off on April 12, 1980, Canadians were dubious. But as he continued across the country, enthusiasm grew to a frenzy. Sadly, Terry’s cancer returned, and after 143 days and 3,339 miles, he was forced to stop his Marathon of Hope. He passed away in 1981 but the nation picked up his mission where he left off and the annual Terry Fox Run has even spread to cities around the world, raising more than $850 million to date - well over Terry’s goal of one dollar for every Canadian.
After conducting over fifty interviews with people throughout Terry’s life - ranging from his siblings, nurses and coaches to volunteers during the Marathon of Hope - editor Barbara Adhiya discovers how Terry was able to run a marathon a day. Through their stories, passages from Terry’s marathon journal, and over 200 photos and documents, "Hope by Terry Fox" shows that with enough resilience, determination, humility, and support, ordinary people can do impossible things.
I've read a few books about Terry Fox and when new ones come out, I check them out. Terry was an ordinary young man living in Port Coquitlam, BC. He was athletic and enjoyed running and basketball. When he was 19, they discovered he had a cancerous tumour and his right leg was amputated at the knee. With an artificial leg, he began running again and played wheelchair basketball.
On April 12, 1980, Terry began the Marathon of Hope, a cross-country run to raise money for cancer research. He hoped to raise one dollar from each of Canada's 24 million people. He began in St. John's, NF, in April and ran the equivalent of a full marathon every day. On September 1, 1980, he was forced to end his run outside Thunder Bay because the cancer had spread to his lungs. He headed home to BC immediately to begin treatment and passed away in June 1981.
One of Terry's earliest supporters was Isadore Sharp, founder of the Four Seasons Hotels, who proposed an annual fundraising run in Terry's name. Terry agreed but insisted that the runs be non-competitive. The first Terry Fox Run was on on September 13, 1981 ... over 300,000 people took part and raised $3.5 million. The Run has grown to involve millions of participants in over 60 countries and is now the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research ... about $900 million has been raised.
This book is a collection of interviews of people who knew, had met or were affected by Terry Fox ... it includes his nurses and doctors, his friends and family, his coaches and mentors, volunteers of the Marathon of Hope and Terry Fox Run, media and more. It was interesting to read how Terry Fox challenged himself and affected the lives of so many during his Marathon of Hope and since his death. Some were close to him and others had fleeting meetings that changed them forever. There were lots and lots pictures of letters, photos, newspaper articles and more that provided more personal information about what was happening at the time along with excerpts from Terry Fox's diary.
While I enjoyed the book, I read it as an e-book borrowed from the library and the formatting wasn't great. It took me a while to clue in to the formatting because it would be in the author's voice then her interview with someone would follow ... but there was no breakage, change of font, etc. So I didn't realize that it was no longer the author's voice. Then it would flip back without notice to the author's voice. Very confusing. Plus Terry's diary excerpts could have been set apart in a fancy or something ... they just followed as part of the text at the end of the chapters.
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