W.A. Day school students take off on their Terry Fox Run on Thursday afternoon.
F.P. Walshe and W.A. Day schools on Thursday continued their traditions of raising money for cancer research.
Students and staff from both schools participated in their respective Terry Fox Runs.
“Our event is an opportunity to take action, show leadership and set examples of compassion and kindness towards others,” F.P. Walshe school’s master of ceremonies Rylan Baxter said.
The ceremony on Thursday morning began with a land acknowledgement by Ethan Baxter, followed by student Tessa Muirhead singing O Canada, accompanied by Cordelia Yip on keyboards and Daniel Choi on guitar.
Rylan Baxter said the Terry Fox Run on Thursday marked the 15th time F.P. Walshe school staff and students held the event.
They joined students across Canada in holding school runs to continue the work started by the one-legged runner, Terry Fox.
“Unfortunately, we all probably know someone with cancer, whether it’s family member or friend,” Rylan Baxter said. “We’re all touched by cancer in some way and now it’s up to us to show how much we care.”
Terry Fox was just 18 when he was diagnosed with the osteogenic sarcoma, or bone cancer, that led to his right leg being amputated in 1977 six inches above the knee.
After the operation Fox was put in the children’s cancer ward due to a bed shortage.
When he saw children with cancer, Fox stopped feeling sorry for himself.
Doctors fitted Fox with an artificial leg and he had to learn how to walk.
Fox devised a plan to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research.
Fox spent 18 months training for the Marathon of Hope, covering more than 3,100 miles, while never letting on to his family what he had planned.
Fox started his Marathon of Hope on April 12, 1980 at St. John’s, NFLD, and set out to run 26 miles a day across Canada.
He had filled two buckets with water from the Atlantic Ocean that he planned to dump into the Pacific at the end of his journey.
Fox covered 3,339 miles over 143 days — running the equivalent of a marathon each day — before the cancer returned and forced him to end his run at Thunder Bay, Ont.
Fox died June 28, 1981 at the age of 22.
Canadians and people around the world have since continued the Marathon of Hope, staging runs every September.
“We are happy to host our event again this year to raise awareness and money for cancer research,” Rylan Baxter said.
After a warm-up led by students Avery Wolstenholme and Tjorven Van Beveran, staff and students lined up behind the school for a mass start for the Terry Fox Run.
At W.A Day school, students were prepared by their teachers for the run with videos about the life and efforts of Terry Fox.
They gathered in front of the school in the afternoon and set out on their journey.
Fund-raising continues at both schools through the week.
