Students at a Lethbridge school celebrated the life of Terry Fox on Wednesday.
Father Leonard Van Tighem School held its annual Terry Fox Blast Off Run on September 11, with students running a one-kilometre track.
Event organizer and teacher Steve Leger says the run at the school has been an annual event for about a decade in its current format.
He remarks the goal is to “inspire the kids, bring attention to cancer research and the Terry Fox Foundation and really, to celebrate Terry Fox, who was just an amazing Canadian and super inspirational to all the students we have here today.”
Students gathered in the gymnasium for an opening assembly that featured a prayer, the singing of the national anthem and a video presentation about Terry Fox, who died from cancer in 1981 at the age of 22. Students were also able to make a donation toward the Terry Fox Foundation as part of the event.
Fox’s Marathon of Hope has inspired generations for years since his passing.
Leger says the event also helps get the young students excited about physical activity “and participating in life-long physical literacy”.
He adds the Wednesday run serves as a qualifier event for student-athletes in grades six to nine for the upcoming cities competition on September 18. Leger says the Terry Fox Blast Off Run brings all students at the school together and is a strong display of school spirit.
“We’re a pretty unique school for the city of Lethbridge; we’re pre-K to grade nine and we have a day where all those kids participate in the same event, so it’s pretty awesome.”
Grade seven student Ryder Vannistelrooy says the race brings out a lot of excitement. “I’ve done it, like, seven times because I’ve been in this school since kindergarten,” he notes.
“It’s good to go for Terry Fox and it’s good to raise money for cancer [research].”
Fellow grade seven student at the west Lethbridge school, Jersey Stafford says she was running for a lost family member.
“It means a lot to me because I lost my grandmother to cancer,” Stafford says, adding she wants her grandmother to know, “I am still with her, so I know she’s still with me.”
Stafford says when she first learned of Terry Fox’s story, she was inspired to run competitively. “He’s just very empowering and he helps people with learning and saying they can do whatever, even if they have a disability.”
Communities across the country will hold Terry Fox Run events on Sunday, September 15.
The Green Acres Foundation in Lethbridge will hold the Silver Fox Walk fundraiser on Friday, September 13.
READ MORE: Friday’s Silver Fox Walk helps preserve Terry Fox’s legacy
