(Montreal) Thousands of people from nearly 600 communities across the country are helping to perpetuate Terry Fox Day on Sunday, alone or in teams, thus raising funds for cancer research, the memory of the young athlete and activist.
The 43e Terry Fox Day “contributes to Terry’s dream of raising essential funds for cancer research in Canada”, which has changed many lives in recent years, underlines the foundation which bears the name of Terry Fox, died of cancer at the age of 22.
More than three million students from 10,000 schools across the country will follow suit this week by participating in Terry Fox Schools Day.
More than $322,000 in donations were raised on Sunday, shortly before noon, by participants from 52 municipalities in Quebec, including Gaspé, Quebec, Vallée-du-Richelieu, Montreal, Brossard, Laval and Gatineau. Added to this is a sum of nearly $50,000 raised in nine New Brunswick municipalities, including Fredericton, Moncton and Miramichi.
Volunteers were at work on Sunday in all provinces and territories of Canada.
The Terry Fox Foundation has raised more than $850 million to date to fund research projects in areas such as precision medicine, helping to accelerate the detection, diagnosis and treatment of all types of cancer.
Terry Fox of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, had to have his leg amputated at the age of 18 due to a form of bone cancer, located just above the knee.
Despite this, on April 12 he began crossing Canada, with an artificial leg, to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. His determination could only be slowed down by a recurrence of lung cancer which forced him to end his race on 1er September 1980, after covering 5,373 kilometers, we can read on the Terry Fox Foundation website.