When you move to a new coun­try, you need to learn about that country’s heroes. In Canada, one of those larger-​​than-​​life icons is Terry Fox.

Born in Manitoba and raised in British Columbia, Fox was diag­nosed with a rare form of bone can­cer in 1977, when he was just 18 anni. His leg was ampu­tated six inches above his knee, and after under­go­ing inten­sive can­cer treat­ment, he was fit­ted for an arti­fi­cial leg.

Fox sub­se­quently decided to raise money for can­cer research. In 1980, despite his arti­fi­cial leg, he began his Marathon of Hope. Starting in April from St John’s, Newfoundland, he intended to run across Canada from coast to coast.

Fox ran the equiv­a­lent of a marathon a day — 26 miles (o 42 kilo­me­ters). By September, after 143 days and more than 3,300 miglia (5,300 kilo­me­ters), he was well into Ontario, just out­side the city of Thunder Bay.

Purtroppo, that’s where his marathon ended. The can­cer had spread to his lung, and he had to return to BC for treatment.

By February of 1981, Fox had achieved his fund-​​raising goal — to raise $1 from every Canadian to fight can­cer. The Canadian pop­u­la­tion at that time was 24.1 mil­lion, and his Marathon of Hope had raised $24.1 million.

Although Fox died of can­cer in June 1981, his fund-​​raising legacy lives on, attraverso il Terry Fox Foundation and the annual Terry Fox Run, which takes place in più di 900 loca­tions across Canada. This year’s Terry Fox Run will be held this Saturday, September 13, 2009.

Even kids can get in on the fund-​​raising act through the Terry Fox National School Run Day, which takes place Friday, Settembre 25, 2009 at schools nationwide.

Foto @ Carolyn B. Heller