Terry Fox

There are moments in time we remember. They are stamped on our brains, never to leave.

Those of us who are old enough know where we were and what we were doing when President Kennedy was assassinated. Hockey fans can relive Paul Henderson’s goal in the Canada/Russia series in the final game in 1972.

I was reminded today of another vivid moment in my life. The school where I was teaching had its annual Terry Fox Day. It brought to me the recollection of my hearing about his death.

I was on an airplane heading towards Winnipeg in 1981. We were over Thunder Bay when the pilot came on and announced that he had died. The cabin became instantly silent. It remained that way for quite some time. I remember feeling rather empty. We were near the place where he was forced to give up his quest to run across Canada with one artificial leg for cancer, the disease that claimed his life.

Although he didn’t reach his goal, I don’t think anybody would call him a failure. Many regard him as a hero. I don’t. I put him in a class by himself. He was simply Terry Fox. That’s all I have to say.

He certainly was a pioneer. He set out to do something when nobody else had done anything else like it. Others have since emulated his feat for various causes.

What made him so special was that he wasn’t doing it to draw attention to himself. He did it because he felt it should be done. My memory of his run was that it didn’t get much publicity at all in the beginning. It sort of grew as he lurched from community to community.

In 1999, while on a contract with our Department of Foreign Affairs, I became quite aware of the impact he had on our country. As I travelled around the world, I found out that the embassies I worked in all had a Terry Fox Run.

Will there be Terry Fox Days years from now? I hope so. It isn’t often that somebody who dared to dream without any expectation of personal gain comes along. He touched the lives of many, including me.