By Tanya Cronin

Huge support for Terry Fox at SouthKam Secondary

Sep 29, 2016 | 4:46 PM

KAMLOOPS — He’s a national hero who is honoured every year. Terry Fox was diagnosed with bone cancer when he was just a teenager and had his right leg amputated above the knee.

To help combat cancer, Terry decided to run across Canada, in what is known as the Marathon of Hope. That was 36 years ago. 

Since then, Canadians have been participating in their own Terry Fox Runs, to honour his legacy, and to raise funds for cancer research. Thursday, SouthKam Secondary students, faculty and staff held one of the largest runs in the city.

In a huge show of support, they hit the ground running. 

1,000 SouthKam Secondary students and 100 staff members pounded the pavement this afternoon, each one with a common goal. To carry on the spirit of Terry Fox.

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“Almost everyone at some point in one way or another has been touched by cancer in some way, shape or form, whether it be a relative or a family friend, so pretty easy cause to get behind,” says Josh Ansley, SouthKam Leadership Teacher.    

After losing his right leg to bone cancer at the age of 18, Terry Fox began the Marathon of Hope, two years later on April 12th, 1980. He ran 42 kilometres every day, raising money for cancer research. Terry had high hopes of running across the entire country, but just before he reached Thunder Bay Ontario, nearly two-thirds of the way home, Terry started experiencing pains, finding out later his cancer had spread and he would postpone the rest of his journey.

Terry later passed away. And it’s now been over a quarter of a century since he started his Marathon of Hope. But he has a legacy that lives on, thanks to fundraising events like the annual Terry Fox run.

“This is definitely the least we could do for Terry Fox considering how much he went through just to get the word out, and now that we have the opportunity to be able to help along and contribute to that whole legacy he’s left, is super cool,” says Sophie Doolan, Grade 11 student.

“A lot of kids might not know what’s going on or know about the issue, so if we support it as a school it brings awareness to it for all the kids to be able to understand and be more educated about it,” says Jade Stobbart, Grade 12 student.

“It’s very important that we raise the money, we set a goal and we’re trying to match the goal and obviously this is a big event for us,” says Brett Grunerud, Grade 12 student.

To date, $650 million has been raised through the Terry Fox Foundation for cancer research. Add to that, students at SouthKam have nearly met their financial target, something they’ve done with pride. All to keep the spirit of a national hero, very much alive.  

“We set a goal as a school to try to raise $2,000 and we’re probably 3 quarters of the way there we’re hoping, we’re collecting until tomorrow, so a really good cause and the students have really stepped up in this case,” says Ansley.