Thousands of Canadians take up the torch for B.C. hero Terry Fox

Thousands of Canadians laced up Sunday in about 800 Terry Fox runs across the country, taking up the torch of a young man from Port Coquitlam first lit 37 years ago.

In B.C., 116 Terry Fox runs were held across the province, including in Vancouver, Kelowna, Victoria, Prince George and Fox’s hometown.

Donna White, director of the Terry Fox Foundation for B.C. and Yukon, completed the run at Vancouver’s Stanley Park before the rains came, wearing the red T-shirt of cancer survivors.

“I owe that to Terry Fox,” she said. “I owe my life to what he started 37 years ago and to what Canadians continue to do today.”

Pledges were still being counted on Sunday, but White said donations are up this year, despite concerns that B.C.’s brutal wildfire season might dampen donations and turnout.

Three communities — Alexis Creek, Williams Lake and Fernie — cancelled their events due to the wildfires. In Fernie, the smoke was so bad the trail system where the run was supposed to take place had to be closed down, said White.

“It was a tough decision for the volunteers,” she said. “But it’s the right decision for their communities.”

Even though the events were cancelled, people could still donate online, she added.

Fox was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1977 and had his right leg amputated above the knee.

In April 1980, he began the Marathon of Hope in St. John’s, N.L., to little fanfare. As the miles added up, his quest to raise a dollar from every Canadian to fight cancer began to capture people’s hearts and imaginations and donations started coming in.

Fox had to cut his marathon short on Sept. 1 of that year after cancer appeared in his lungs. He died less than a year later at age 22.

“It’s amazing to think about the dream of one young man to end the suffering that is cancer he saw in the faces of people in the ward where he was being treated for his own diagnosis,” said White.

“The simplicity of what he set out to do — that has made a difference for other people.”

Over the years, the foundation has raised more than $750 million in Fox’s name for cancer research.

Donna White, left, director of the Terry Fox Foundation in B.C. and the Yukon, participated in the run at Stanley Park and was accompanied by Josh Eckler, Johan Monterrat and Maureen Calder of the Four Seasons hotel that organized the run.