TERRY FOX
Written By:
Amirtha & Zehra
MM: Hi! And welcome to Montel's Show.. ummm.. he just had to run to the washroom.. so today I will be introducing this show. Oh.. my god.. im so excited.. okay!.. Today Montel wanted to introduce a legendary Canadian Achiever - Terry Fox. Terry Fox passed away on Junee 28th, 1981. This was one month before his birthday. The eventual death of Terry motivated him to change his track of misery into one that inspired hope and motivation not only for cancer patients, but for many others. ........
PAUSE: "Where's Montel?" .............
Anyway, now I will introduce you to myself, I'm Madame Monique and Montel has invited me here today to contact Terry's spirit. After all, there's nothing like hearing an amazing story from the achiever himself!! Well I guess we'll start without Montel.
MUSIC ON, CANDLES ON
MM: ............ Come in Terry Fox, Terry Fox.. come in.. I can sense him.. OPEN ONE EYE..
FOX: Oh im sooo tired.. its been 20 years.
MM: WHOLY FLIPPIN GOD.. it worked.. its never worked before.. ... I mean YES YES... um... ofcourse its you.. Terry Fox.. pis pis.. have a seat.. ur on the Montel show.... Sorry to wake you up.. you don't mind if we ask you a few questions do you?
FOX; Montel?? Oh my god... im on the Montelshow... I cant believe this.. yeh yeh suuree.. ask me anything...
MM: Terry, you've become one of Canada's great achiever. It all began in 1977 when you
discovered you had a tumour in your right leg.. is it too painful for you to tell us about it?
FOX; No no its okay.. hey im dead remember.. well anyway.. back when I was 18,1 was this teenager who was quite active in sports. I loved running and many sports of the kind. Soon I found out I had this tumour in my leg.. and I had to get it amputated 6 inches from my knee, I was definitely upset at first but the night b4 I got my leg amputated, I read this article that changed my attitude to this whole situation.. it was an article about an amputee who had competed in the NY marathon.. that totally brought up my hopes..
MM; you also had a dream that night.. tell us about that?
FOX: I had a dream that night that I would run right across Canada. I dint even know that if I'd be able to walk but it was something that never left me, that dream, that fantasy.
MM; how inspiring!.. and only after 6 weeks after your operation at the Royal Colombian Hospital in New Westminister, BC, you returned to your home Manitoba, Winnipeg and started playing golf along with 16 months of chemo. Then two years later after there was no trace of any cancerous growth in your bones, you wrote to the Canadian Cancer Society in 1979. Brief us on this?
FOX; Well a couple of months earlier, I had begun training for a marathon. I called this the MARATHON OF HOPE. It was a cross Canada run to raise money for cancer research. By Then I decided to write to the CC society in request to support my run.
MM; You said; " I'm not a dreamer, and im not saying this will initiate any kind of definitive answer to cure to cancer, but I believe in miracles, I have to". And by then you already had support from Adidas, Esso, Ford Motor, Four Seasons hotels and soon the Canadian Cancer society. Amazing.. simply fascinating.. What was the time period of this legendary marathon?
FOX; well I began my marathon on April 12th 1980 in St John's, Newfoundland and ended Just outside of Thunder Bay. Ontario on September 1, 1980. I passed through PEI, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario.
MM; and just before you began your run, you had dipped your artificial leg in the Atlantic ocean... umm..
FOX; yes indeed I did.. and im glad that that act of mine is remembered. Canada is my
country and I sure as hell am glad to be Canadian. Most of all, I dipped my leg in the Atlantic ocean to SYMBOLIZE that all you cancer patients out there, I will succeed.. I will run all around the border of Canada and my mission will be known and people will begin to enjoin and support me.. the suffering will end.. it must..
MM: FASCINATING!!!!... and when you reached Thunderbay tell us what happened..
FOX: Well by the time I reached Thunderbay I was forced to stop my run outside of
Thunderbay because my cancer had reappeared, but this time in my lungs, The whole nation was quite stunned and saddened indeed but although in pain and suffering, I felt that I had accomplished my dream. P'
MM; About 9 months later you passed away, however your legacy was just beginning.
FOX; I left with the thought that people now might say lets continue with cancer research.. after all I had captured their heart and if anything was there to convince them to pursue this dream, it was my effort of running on an artificial leg all through Canada's Atlantic provinces, Quebec and Ontario.
MM; Indeed you are a Canadian hero. Then in 1980 after you had stopped running, Mr.
Isodore Sharp. President of Four Seasons Hotels, telegrammed your family with a commitment to organize a fundraising run that would be held every year in your name.. He had written in the telegram, "you started it. We will not rest until your dream to find a cure for cancer is realised." And till today that is in progress. Anyways going back to your marathon, in those 143 days of your marathon, you ran an approximate distance of 5,373 km... WOW!!1... tell us a few things that you encountered..
FOX; well in the beginning it was difficult to garner attention.. but soon enthusiasm grew. It was amazing.. people in the beginning were just coming to give me $15 and $20 just like that. Soon funds began growing.. these funds were for the sole use of cancer research in Canada. As time passed more and more people were becoming aware of my mission.. the media, companies, athletic companies.. in 1980 after my cancer had spread.. CTC organized a telethon lasting 5 hours and they raised $10 million.. then a couple of months later.. my dream of getting $1 from every Canadian is realised... the Canadian population in that year. 1981 was 24.1 million.. therefore, the marathon of hope funds totalled $24.17 million..
MM: and it didnt stop there.. after you passed away.. in 1981, the Canadian Government
created a $5 million endowment fund names THE TERRY FOX HUMANITARIAN AWARD to provide scholarships each year in honour of Terry Fox. The award presented to students who demonstrated the highest ideals and qualities of citizenship and humanitarian service. Then the run that continued after ur demise., over 300,000 people participated and that raised around $3.5 million.. Fascinating... and then you also won AWARDS... SO MANY AWARDS...
FOX: Yes I was awarded THE ORDER OF THE DOGWOOD, which is BC's highest civilian award.......... THE SWORD OF HOPE, the American Cancer Society's highest award.. and the LOU MARSH AWARD by Canadian sport editors for outstanding athletic accomplishment... and oh.. im so glad that my dream was accomplished..
MM: and oh.. so many more awards.. CANADIAN OF THE YEAR by the Canadian press.. all these awards in 1980... and then.. after ur demise.. you were awarded CANADIAN OF THE YEAR again by the Canadian press....
FOX: OHH REALLY.. my oh my.. its a bigger progress than I thought...
MM; ohh... the show can go on forever.. I mean there's a peak in the rocky mountain, a section of Trans-Canada hiway, a stamp, a nine foot bronze statue, a ship from the Canadian Coast Guard, a trust, an award by YTV, a hall of Fame... all these and soo many more.. all dedicated or renamed in your honour...
FOX:; wow.. I umm.. wow.. I am shocked...
MM: Terry, you have been Canadian of the year, Canadian of the decade.. boy oh boy im
5000 glad I got to host this show.. poor Mon+el... (evil laughter..heheheh)... Terry.. it was a greeeeaat pleasure to have you on the show.. and im soo sorry to have waken you from your sleep...
F0X: it was'my"'pleasure.. I got•to make'people aware of my dreams once again... and Just to know that people havent forgotten wut I strived for and accomplished what I started and worth the wakening of 20 yrs.. thank you Mademoiselle Monique...
MM: ooohhh!!! How did you know my name??
FOX:: heheh'.... Not only you can read minds.. dont forget, Im above the earth, watching over you people.. hehehehehh..... (FOX EXITS)
MM: blow candles out..... lights on..... WOW!!!.., that was amazing.. Terry fox,, I admire him because of his courage, hard work and incredible attitude.. his legacy serves as an example of what can be accomplished and is a true inspiration to me.. After all, how many people ever get a chance to do something that they really believe in?? Today we have a Terry Fox Foundation that is independent of the Canadian Cancer Society.. and the revenues from the Terry Fox Run bring a total of $270 million... until next time.. this is the montel show.. put ur hands together for Terry Fox.
END