Although the Terry
Fox Run is all about raising funds for cancer research,
reaching the $1 billion mark this year, he also
acts as an inspiration to those with disabilities.
One of those people
is Megan Stuckey, who, like Fox, uses prosthetics.
In her case, she has two prosthetic legs because
she was born with limb differences.
Fox lost his leg to
cancer, and famously attempted to run across Canada
in 1980 on an off-the-shelf prosthetic leg to raise
money for cancer research.
He was forced to abort
his run in Thunder Bay after his cancer spread.
Passing away in 1981 at the age of 22, Fox has become
a national hero. His legacy continues with the Terry
Fox Run, now in its 46th year, and Stuckey was one
of those in attendance at Sudbury’s event
on Sept. 20. Speaking to Sudbury.com
while walking in Bell Park as part of the event,
Stuckey said she was there representing a group
called Ability in Motion Sudbury, which promotes
para sports.
She said it means a lot that one of our “great
Canadian heroes” is someone who was missing
a leg, that a person with such a visible disability
was trying to help humanity. But
she also admires Fox for the same reasons as everyone
else - he was so passionate and determined.
“He just wanted
to keep going despite the pain, despite people telling
him to slow down, despite people saying you're hurting
yourself or you can't keep doing this,” Stuckey
said.
“He just kept
going. I drive up to Thunder Bay a lot for work,
and I get to pass the monument of Terry Fox, and
so I stop there every year to take a look at it
and just remember that that's how far he went.”
Sudbury Terry Fox Run organizer Frances Summerhill,
who was honoured at the event for her 40 years of
service to the runs both in Toronto and then in
Sudbury, said Fox's story teaches many lessons.
Those include "courage,
commitment and dedication,” she said. “But
also, so many of us are impacted by cancer. Two
out of five Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer
this year.”
Although 45 years have passed since the young man
died, Summerhill said he remains relevant.
A documentary called
"Run Terry Run" about Fox's story screened
at Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival
Sept. 19, the evening before the Terry Fox Run.
“It was wonderful, and it was very well attended,”
Summerhill said.
Canadian musician Bryan Adams also just came out
with a new song called “The Ballad of Terry
Fox.” Summerhill said she was also at the
recent Adams concert in Sudbury, where he performed
the tune.
That song ends with
‘He ran for everybody, he ran for me and you,’”
she said. “Beautiful.”
Summerhill said the
Sudbury Terry Fox Run organizers hoped to raise
around $60,000 for cancer research on Sunday, with
hundreds of people taking part.
The top individual
fundraiser for the local event was Holly Tezlaff,
who said she has raised $31,000 for the Terry Fox
Foundation.
She said she’s been doing the Terry Fox Run
since she was in a stroller, and her goal to never
miss a run began, even when she broke four bones
in her foot, “so I had my parents once again
push me in a stroller.”
Inspired by Fox, she
decided to go into the field of prosthetics and
orthotics.
“I first shadowed
in the field in Grade 10, using my PA days and my
March breaks to spend more time in clinics,”
Tezlaff said.
“In 2022, after
my undergrad degree in kinesiology, which is the
same as Terry Fox. I was accepted into the technical
program at George Brown College, and then in 2023,
I was just one of eight students across Canada that
was accepted into the clinical program for prosthetics
and orthotics.
“Now that journey eventually brought me here
to Sudbury Prosthetic and Orthotic design, where
I now get to work with patients, fabricate devices
and work alongside a really incredible team to help
people with their mobility, independence and accomplishing
their own dreams.”
She said attending
the 46th annual Terry Fox Run, and her personal
27th Terry Fox Run, is “incredibly special”
because of “friends, family, and community
members who supported me all these years.”
“If there's one
thing that you take away from my story today, it's
Terry's words that have meant so much to me - that
dreams are made possible if you try,” Tezlaff
said. “I hope you all have a beautiful run
today.”
Heidi
Ulrichsen is a reporter with Sudbury.com.
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