The Case of Terry Fox - Essay Example

Terrance Stanley Fox was one of the people, whose life was ruined by cancer, thus he knew pretty well what he struggled for. A young man lost his leg in the struggle with the dangerous disease when he was only nineteen (Nelson, 2003). Since that time he became a cancer activist. In 1980 Terry started his cross-Canada run that was also interrupted by cancer recidivation.  After his death, Terry Fox Run was created. Running with the artificial leg, Terry became a national hero. The main goal of his Marathon of Hope was to collect money and spend it on cancer research to find a way to treat the illness planned was to take one dollar from each Canadian citizen and the sum would reach 24 million dollars. He ran every day and by the time he reached Ontario, he was already famous. His run ended near Thunder when the disease made him stop. A hero died nine months later.

Terry Fox was inspired by Dick Traum, the first man who took part in racing without a leg. After reading about Dick’s achievements Terry told his parents that he also was going to take part in the marathon. However, he did not tell his parents about his real intentions. Terry was irritated by the fact that cancer research is not financed properly. He decided to help find the way to treat the disease and almost realized his plan. He knew pretty well what people feel when they try to treat cancer. He wrote: “I soon realized that that would only be half my quest, for as I went through the 16 months of the physically and emotionally draining ordeal of chemotherapy, I was rudely awakened by the feelings that surrounded and coursed through the cancer clinic. There were faces of white brave smiles and the ones who had given up smiling. There were feelings of hopeful denial and things of despair. My quest would not be a selfish one. I could not leave knowing these faces and feelings would still exist, even though I would be set free from mine. Somewhere the hurting must stop....and I was determined to take myself to the limit for this cause” (cited in Cosentino, 1990).

Notwithstanding that Terry was disabled, he believed in his forces and did not want people to be sorry for him. Unfortunately, not all of his friends and relatives supported him, his mother did not want him to run. Then she was sorry about that, she recollects his words: "He said, 'I thought you'd be one of the first persons to believe in me.' And I wasn't. I was the first person who let him down" (cited in MacQueen, 2010). Terry was not sure that his running will help cure cancer, but he still hoped so. When he applied to the Canadian Cancer Society asking for the fund for ing his project, he wrote: “we need your help. The people in cancer clinics all over the world need people who believe in miracles. I am not a dreamer, and I am not saying that this will initiate any kind of definitive answer or cure to cancer. I believe in miracles. I have to” (cited in Cosentino, 1990).

Though the mission of Terry Fox remained unfinished, others continue reaching his goal. We should hope tone-day day cancer will be successfully treated and many lives will be saved. People like Terry Fox are heroes and they should be remembered for what they did for others. Fox ran without a let to save the lives and health of other people. He did not listen to those, who did not believe in him, did everything to reach his goal. His self-assurance and astonishing strength of his character made him alive not only in the hearts of all the citizens of Canada but in the hearts of all the people in the world.