Terry Fox Monument

In the 1970s, former high school athlete and kinesiology student Terry Fox was told he had only a 50 percent chance of surviving osteosarcoma, a bone cancer that claimed his left leg. Fox soon took to wheelchair basketball, eventually winning the Canadian national championship. Next, he set his sights on running. Wanting to bring more attention to and raise money for cancer research, Fox trained for 14 months for a long-distance Marathon of Hope, spanning across Canada.

Initially met with skepticism from his family and the Canadian Cancer Society, Fox began his run near St. John's Canada on April 12, 1980. There, he collected a bottle of Atlantic sea water that he intended to pour into the Pacific upon finishing. He was accompanied by his friend Doug Alward and later his brother Darrell. Initially coldly received by many towns and hostile motorists, Fox gained the sympathy of Four Seasons CEO Isadore Sharp, who had already lost a son to cancer. Sharp got almost 1,000 corporations to each pledge $2 per mile to Fox's campaign. Arriving in the national capital of Ottawa on Canada Day, Fox was greeted by the Governor General and Prime Minister. In Toronto alone he raised $100,000.

Eventually, the run began to take a toll on Fox's already fragile health. Despite suffering from pain in his leg, he refused frequent medical checkups and insisted on traveling wherever he was invited to raise more money. On September 1, Fox began to suffer severe coughing and chest pains outside Thunder Bay. Despite the encouragement of a local crowd, he was forced to go to a hospital, where he learned that his cancer had spread to his lungs. After 3,300 miles, he was unable to continue, and eventually succumbed to cancer on June 19, 1981 at the age of 22.

Originally aiming to raise $1 million Canadian dollars, Fox's run raised $1.7 million during its duration and $23 million by the following April. Fox was awarded the Order of Canada and Lou Marsh Award for best Canadian athlete of the year.

Today, the annual Terry Fox Run continues to be held all across the world, raising more funds for cancer research.  Fox is considered a national hero in Canada, and his name can be found on roads and buildings all across the country. Naturally, there are several memorials to him, the largest of which is near where his run ended in Thunder Bay.

Fox's memorial, a 9-foot-tall bronze statue designed by Manfred Pervich, was unveiled in 1982. It has since expanded to include a visitor centre and lookout over Thunder Bay. The statue and site have suffered from vandalism over the years, including one hand being sawed off and an attempted decapitation, it still stands as a testimony to Fox's heroism. Other runs for disability and cancer awareness have also stopped at the monument to pay tribute.