On Friday, the Green Acres Foundation is hosting a Silver Fox Walk fundraiser for the Terry Fox Foundation. The event will take place at the Horseshoe Picnic Shelter at Henderson Lake.
Terry Fox, uncle and namesake of renowned Canadian Terry Fox, will be attending the event, along with residents from the Green Acres senior communities. Fox, originally from Winnipeg, has lived in Lethbridge since 1977.
“I think it’s very good of them to do this. That was very thoughtful of them. It’s good we still remember my nephew,” says Fox. Every year, the Terry Fox Run takes place across Canada. This year, the run takes place at schools and communities Sept. 15 to raise funds for cancer research.
“I’m hoping 50 years from now, they’ll still be doing it because of what he tried to do and what he did and accomplished,” adds Fox.
Fox’s nephew Terry lost his leg to osteogenic sarcoma at the age of 18, underwent 16 months of treatment and found he could not ignore the suffering he witnessed in the cancer wards. Terry decided to run across Canada to raise money in a Marathon of Hope.
Terry ran close to 42 kilometres a day through Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. He ran through snow, rain, wind, heat and humidity. He stopped in more than 400 towns, schools and cities to talk about why he was running.
After 143 days and 5,373 kilometres, Terry was forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, ON. Terry died on June 28, 1981 at the age of 22. To-date, over $850 million has been raised for cancer research in Terry’s name through the annual Terry Fox Run, held across Canada and around the world.
Fox says his nephew had so much determination, even as a kid. “I used to babysit him now and then. If I said, ‘Terry, you can’t do this or you can’t do that,’ he would find a way of doing it.”
He was also into a lot of sports, including soccer and basketball. “He was told by some of the coaches, ‘you’re too small or you’re not very tall.’ But he was just determined and he made the team. He was a very determined boy, right from the day he was born,” says Fox.
According to Fox, he was with his nephew before he passed away. “He told me he just wanted to get out there. It was eating him up. He wanted to get out and finish the run. He was hoping to get better, so he could do it.”
Fox notes he does whatever he can to help out and preserve his nephew’s legacy. “Not only was he my nephew, but he was also my namesake. He was just an unbelievable boy.”
While in the hospital, Fox explains, Terry was moved to the children’s ward after his operation because they didn’t have room in the adult ward. “He said, ‘when I saw the kids with no hair and bald heads and some couldn’t even get out of bed, I stopped feeling sorry for myself’ and that gave him the determination to run. His mom only wanted him to run just across B.C. and not Canada. Terry said to his mom he made up his mind – I’m running across Canada.”
Terry even took two big jars full of water from the Atlantic Ocean. “He kept one as a souvenir and one he was going to dump into the Pacific Ocean when he got over there. But of course, that never happened,” adds Fox.
During the Silver Fox Walk, there will be a short 15-minute walk followed by a barbecue picnic, assisted e-bike rides and musical entertainment. The event kicks off approximately at 11 a.m. Donations to the Terry Fox Foundation are welcome.
