To Terry Fox, for what he has given to Canada and to the
world.
Hero: a person admired for great or noble deeds
When people think of a hero, their mind sways to dragon slayers,
or handsome princes rescuing their princess from an evil witch
or stepmother. What about Terry Fox, a one legged runner who
ran across Canada to save the lives of children and other cancer
patients? Perhaps my writing could be read by another cancer
patient, waiting to be helped or dreaming to do something like
Terry Fox. Terry Fox put up his own life to save you and others
from cancer. If you do not have cancer, he still saved you in
a way because he raised $1.7 million to go toward cancer research
and protect you. Ill-fated, a hero could not protect or rescue
himself.
This is how his story goes. One morning in March 1977, Terrence
Stanley Fox, 18, could not get out of his bed because of a searing
pain in his right knee. The night before at his high school Terry
Fox had circled the track despite this same pain, a pain that
had started weeks and weeks before, and would not go away.
He thought at the same time it was a cartilage problem, but
he did not want to quit the basketball season. He was a guard
on the freshman basketball team at Simon Fraser University in
Burnaby, British Columbia, a position he had earned through hard
work and skill. On that morning in March, in a small ranch-style
home in Port Coquitlam, the pain was too great for him to move.
His father, Rolly Fox, took him for a thorough medical examination.
After a series of tests, a doctor walked into Terry's hospital
room, and with his parents standing by, Terry was told he had
osteogenic sacroma of the right knee, the most common form of
rare bone cancer. The leg must be amputated as soon as possible
because the cancer was dangerous and would spread quickly. At
the age of eighteen, the tragedy was enormous.
The night before the operation, three days after the diagnosis,
his former basketball coach came to see him with an article about
a one-legged runner who had finished the New York Marathon. "I
had a dream that night," Terry was to say many times throughout
the marathon, "that I would run across Canada. I didn't
even know if I'd be able to walk but it was something that never
left me, that dream, that fantasy."
#1 Doesn't your heart wrench? Terry Fox did not even know
if he would come out alive, but he had a dream, and a bigger
wish was to complete this dream. It is a good thing that Terry
held fast to his dream or else his life could have ended the
way Langston Hughes ended his poem Dreams. "Hold fast to
dreams, for when dreams go, life is a barren field frozen with
snow."
It was his uncertainty of surviving that caused him to become
more determined, and that is where it began. The Marathon of
Hope--Terry's decision to make a difference--started off in St.
John's, Newfoundland and ceased in Thunder Bay when the doctors
had discovered that the cancer had spread into his lungs. Terry
was then hospitalized. Nevertheless, Terry touched millions of
people not only nationwide, but internationally too! He might
not have finished what he started but he raised over $1.7 million
for cancer research. Terry Fox was also the first person who
began a
nationwide fundraiser in Canada. He should be acknowledged for
this.
Terry Fox was patriotic and loving; he was not bitter toward
his disability. He did not think that because of his disability
he could not live the way he wanted to. Instead, he decided to
show the world what a disabled person could do: Anything!
Terry Fox was a real Canadian hero, although he wasn't the
rugged-looking man with a washboard stomach and blond hair and
blue eyes. Everybody can learn from him. He taught people what
a Canadian needs to do. They need to put their own problems aside
and help others, especially in a great nation like Canada, where
everybody should work as a community. Terry Fox ran halfway across
Canada limping in pain, exhausted and having doubts. Nevertheless,
he went on until the very last minute because he had a dream
and he wanted to fulfill it.
He gave his mind, soul and body to his nation, Canada. This
is a true hero. Terry Fox ran for humanity not only for himself.
The Canadian government can recognize a hero because Terry Fox
was awarded with many honourable awards like: Canadian of the
Year, Companion of the Order of Canada, Citation of Honour and
even an award from the United States of America: The Sword of
Hope.
Terry Fox was a great and honourable hero whom nobody can
forget. Terry was right when he said "Somewhere the hurting
must stop . . . " He said this to everybody and he wanted
everybody to help the Cancer Society of Canada. (Please do help
the Cancer Society of Canada). Terry Fox raised the pride of
being a Canadian, throughout everybody living in Canada; young
or elderly. He inspired millions of people around the world,
he drew nationwide attention and raised $ 1.7 million. Gripped
by an outpouring of emotion, Canadians donated an additional
$23 million to the fund. For his efforts he was made a Companion
of the Order of Canada and a B.C. mountain was named after him.
Thousands annually participated in a fund-raising run named after
him.
#2 To me, it seems like Canadians are finishing Terry's dream.
We all need a role model like Terry Fox in our lives. Terry
Fox keeps reminding us that nothing is impossible if you put
your mind to it!
Even if I do not win this contest Terry Fox will always be
considered a hero in my eyes for eternity. |