Terry Fox

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Terry Fox
It is extremely difficult to quantify the value of good health. There is virtually nothing in ordinary human life that can act as a substitute for good health. Even if an individual is blessed with immense wealth, the lack of good health can ruin the quality of life enjoyed by that individual. It is hard to mention good health in Canada without envisaging the contributions made by Terry Fox in channeling resources to fight cancer. Despite remarkable incapacities, Terry Fox’s marathons helped to raise cancer awareness and generate a considerable amount of revenue to help fight the disease that is among the deadliest in the planet.
Terry Fox had his right leg amputated when he was 18 years old due to cancer. Unlike most amputees, he continued to engage in intense physical activity to fight the pessimistic notion held by most people about disabled people. His marathon, ‘the Marathon of Hope’ as he called it, was able to create awareness throughout the country and raise over one million dollars towards efforts to fight the disease (Trottier, Maxine and Howell 1). Terry ran through extreme weather conditions just to show people that despite huge struggles, human beings could stay strong and resilient. His extraordinary determination was highlighted in his last in 1980 (Harrison 502). Terry narrates that he felt a sharp pain in his chest but he still kept going. Before the last race, he had run for over 140 days covering a marathon distance each day (Ling 2).

Cancer is by far the number one killer in Canada. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, the disease is responsible for 30% of deaths caused by the most common diseases (Larry et al. 422). It is important for the Canadian society to join hands in the fight against the disease. The Terry Fox Foundation still organizes runs to generate money to help fight cancer (Scrivener 3). The marathon is conducted in various parts of the globe these days. The run occurs annually across all provinces in Canada. It is important to organize school runs meant to raise awareness and generate funds to fight cancer. The school should also create its version of the Terry Fox run to continue his undying legacy (Dahl 4). There are a number of things to be done in order for this proposal to be successfully implemented.
The school’s student leaders need to contact officials from the Terry Fox Foundation so as to come up with a run customized to the school’s environment. T-shirts can be printed and sold so as to generate the requisite funds to support the fight against cancer (Chivers 6). The school’s management should avail a hall to facilitate the sharing of information on how to fight the killer disease. Students from the school are expected to come up with relevant material including the latest findings from research on how to combat the disease (Jeremy & Harvey 1). Every student is also expected to actively participate in promoting the run to family members and friends outside the school’s fraternity. If people just sit and do nothing about the disease, there is a great risk of the disease killing even more Canadians than it currently does (Lindsay, et al. 450). Raising awareness can help people to stop engaging in risky behaviors that increase their susceptibility to the disease (Desmond, et al. 97). Every student should be personally driven to participate in the run. It is our moral obligation to fight the disease and make contributions towards a healthy society.
Works Cited
Brown, Jeremy, and Gail Harvey. Terry Fox: a pictorial tribute to the marathon of hope. General Pub., 1980.Chivers, Sally. “Ordinary People: Reading the TransCanadian Terry Fox.” Canadian Literature 202 (2009): 80.
Dahl, Marilyn. “The role of the media in promoting images of disability-disability as metaphor: The evil crip.” Canadian Journal of Communication 18.1 (1993).
Ellison, Larry F., et al. “Canadian cancer statistics at a glance: cancer in children.” Canadian Medical Association Journal180.4 (2009): 422-424.
Harrison, Deborah. “The Terry Fox story and the popular media: a case study in ideology and illness.” Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie 22.4 (1985): 496-514.
Leddin, Desmond, et al. “Canadian Association of Gastroenterology and the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation: guidelines on colon cancer screening.” Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 18.2 (2004): 93-99.
Ling, Victor. “The Faces of.” (2010).
Scrivener, Leslie. Terry Fox: His Story (Revised). McClelland & Stewart, 2010.
Trottier, Maxine, and Bill Howell. Terry Fox: A Story of Hope. CNIB, 2007.
Weight, Lindsay M., et al. “Erythropoietic adaptations to endurance training.” European journal of applied physiology and occupational physiology 64.5 (1992): 444-448.