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 years old. 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 (or 42 kilometers) — from his Atlantic coast starting point. By September, after 143 days and more than 3,300 miles (5,300 kilometers), he was well into Ontario, just outside the city of Thunder Bay.

Unfortunately, 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, through the Terry Fox Foundation and the annual Terry Fox Run, which takes place in more than 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, September 25, 2009 at schools nationwide.

Photo @Carolyn B. Heller