today is the national Terry Fox Run day. Terry Fox is a Canadian icon and hero- for those of you who don't know who he was, here's an introduction from the Terry Fox website:
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 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 would call his journey the Marathon of Hope.
It was a journey that Canadians never forgot.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. 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 the age 22.
The heroic Canadian was gone, but his legacy was just beginning.
To date, more than $400 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.
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today we Islanders and friends are participating in the Terry Fox Run with heavy hearts.
a few days ago, a friend and neighbour, Margaret, died after a 4 year battle with cancer. Margaret was only 43 and leaves behind her husband and 4 children, ages 6- 14.
here's an article about her death in the newspaper for which she was a reporter, and here's an article she wrote about her diagnosis.
one of things Margaret did to try to fight the cancer was drink fresh organic vegetable juice every day. some friends organized a supply of vegetables and a team of people every day to 'scrub' and 'juice' day-in and day-out for the past 2 years (the date of her most recent cancer diagnosis) and deliver a mason jar of juice to Margaret's door every day. there were over 50 people involved in this labour of love.
one of Margaret's neighbours planted this tribute to Margaret and her band of juicers in his garden this spring.
Margaret will be sorely missed.
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I am challenging myself to run 10K today- i've never run that far before. i know how hard Margaret fought to live and i want to do something hard to recognize her struggle. if you would like to donate to the Terry Fox foundation, here's the link.
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PS- I ran the 10K!
