(Vancouver) Bill Vigars, who led the promotion of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope in 1980, has died at the age of 78.
His wife, Sherry MacDonald, confirmed the news in an interview. She said Bill Vigars died of congestive heart failure Thursday, surrounded by his loved ones at a hospital in White Rock, British Columbia.
Mme MacDonald said he had fought a “long, difficult battle” that began when he had a heart attack in June.
He is survived by his wife, two children, a stepson and a grandson. He will be honored at a private ceremony in his honor early next year, Mr.me McDonald.
She said her husband, whom she married in 2009, was “full of life, full of playfulness, wanted everything to be an adventure, and [que] it was.”
He was the former Director of Public Relations and Fundraising for the Canadian Cancer Society. He met Terry Fox in 1980, and served as his public relations agent and confidant when the 21-year-old set a goal of running across Canada to raise money for cancer research .
Mr. Vigars was by Mr. Fox’s side until the tragic end of his trip to Thunder Bay, Ontario, when Mr. Fox learned that the cancer that had taken his right leg had spread to his lungs. Mr. Fox died on June 28, 1981 at the Royal Columbia Hospital in New Westminster, British Columbia.
Mr. Fox’s legacy also laid the foundation for the annual Terry Fox Run, which would boost cancer research in Canada, raising more than $850 million since 1980, according to the Terry Fox website. the Terry Fox Foundation.
Mme MacDonald said Mr. Vigars made it his mission to keep Terry Fox’s dream alive, noting that he visited four or five schools every September to tell the Terry Fox story before the annual run. The only September he missed, she said, was this year, while he was in the hospital.
CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Terry Fox during his run across Canada to raise money for cancer research, in an undated photo.
“Terry was his guiding light,” said M.me MacDonald, about her husband. “Terry’s tenacity, his convictions, his determination, were values that appealed to Bill. »
She said her husband shared Mr. Fox’s vision. “They were very aligned on that, and Terry was very clear on his goals, and [Bill] did not turn away from it. »
Mr. Vigars published a book last year, with Ian Harvey, called Terry & Me: The Inside Story of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope (Terry and Me: The Story of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope). Released on August 29, 2023, the book chronicles the Marathon of Hope from Mr. Vigars’ perspective.
Mme MacDonald said Mr. Vigars was reluctant to do the book at first “because he never wanted to draw attention to himself,” but felt Canadians deserved to know the story. “ [C’était] truly a labor of love and it was a huge achievement for him and I think he was very proud of it, as he should be,” she said of the book.
His publisher, Sutherland House Publishing, posted on social media on Friday that it was “very saddened” to learn of Mr. Vigar’s death, calling him an “author, publicist and close friend of Terry Fox.”
“Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this very difficult time,” he wrote in the post.
The Terry Fox Foundation also reacted to Mr Vigar’s death on social media, saying their “Terry Fox world is smaller and sadder” after hearing the news of his death.
“He saw Terry at his strongest, vulnerable and emotional. “Bill succeeded in making Terry a relatable, approachable human being, ‘no different, no better and no less,’ as Terry said,” the organization said of Mr. Vigar, in a Facebook post.
“It was the greatest gift he could give his beloved friend: a reminder that Terry was just one of us. »