Remembering Terry Foxs Marathon of Hope - part one

It's been 30 years since Terry Fox dipped his artificial leg in St. John's Harbour to begin his cross-country Marathon of Hope in support of cancer research.
As he made his way across this province, Terry made a visit to the Bay St. George area. The Georgian snapped a photo of Terry during a stop in Stephenville, where he accepted a donation from Angela Best, then the president of the Integrated High School student union,
"At the time, the enormity of what Terry was doing was lost on me -and perhaps most people in our community," recalled Angela last week, from her home in Ontario.
Prior to the meeting, Angela said school principal Ed Penny gave her a briefing on Terry's attempt to raise awareness and $1 million for cancer research. Terry had lost his right leg to bone cancer three years prior to starting the marathon.
"I'm not sure what I expected when I met him, but I do recall seeing him run into town with the distinctive hop, skip gait and stop right in front of our small gathering wearing a cotton tee shirt and shorts," said Angela.
The date was May 1 and Angela remembered it was a beautiful day.
"He was shy, very mild mannered and soft spoken. When I gave him the cheque he nodded his head and very quietly thanked me. I guess I thought he would give a heartfelt speech, have a booming politician voice, shake his fist and yell a battle cry of together we will beat cancer! His modesty struck me. Then before I knew it, he was gone."
Terry visited St. George's the following day and continued on with his quest to run across Canada.
Terry had to stop 143 days and 5,280 km into the marathon. His cancer had returned and spread to his lungs, and he found it impossible to continue. He died on June 28, 1981.
"Now years later, I appreciate what he was doing, even more so since I have myself run a few marathons. The physical feat in itself is amazing," said Angela.
"His conviction and courage still blows me away and he had all of that at such a young age. He was only a few years older than me at the time and he really did do the impossible. I often wonder how."
Over the next few weeks, the Georgian will be running other stories from those who saw and met Terry during his visit to Bay St. George during the Marathon of Hope. If you would like to submit your own story, please call 643-4531, email editor@thegeorgian.ca, or drop into the Georgian office at 43 Main St., Stephenville (across from Domino Pizza House).
editor@thegeorgian.ca