Honoring a hero undiminished by the passage of time

Going back to your grade school years later can be an unsettling thing, even if the student experience at a place was an entirely positive thing.

Basketball hoops recalled as towering are not so soaring. Playground areas that seemed endless appear finite and somehow shrinking. A gymnasium that could easily hold every teacher, every student and countless parents and guardians of pupils feels depressingly compressed.

It can be tough as well to appraise people that captured your childhood imagination once you’ve joined them in adulthood. I was a huge Guy LaFleur fan as a kid. He was blur-fast on the ice – with a mane of hair flowing, as he deked this way or zoomed that way. He was a rock-star special. Different. Cool. He had style, power, artistry and big-moment presence.

In the lead-up to and at his memorial, in 2022, ‘that’ Guy was widely and warmly recalled. Fewer tributes framed the man that was changed by life after his playing days ended. As an adult, I was jarred to see an aged version of ‘The Flower’ – a thinner, balding man who was physically reduced by a host of post-playing stresses he confronted.

Given the changes that time and adult perspective can bring, it’s all the more impressive when those considerations only make something or someone more incredible.

The passage of years and my long-ago transition to adulthood have taken nothing from Terry Fox. In fact, in several ways, what Fox attempted, how he did it and what he accomplished has grown since 1980.

I have few regrets in life. I’m lucky to be able to say that. But, I wish I had pushed to see Fox when he shuffle-stepped into my hometown 44 years ago. One of my siblings did. She had a wall of Marathon of Hope newspaper clippings in her bedroom and wouldn’t have missed it.

I studied Fox’s trot so carefully, I could mimic it. I was nine when his run ended – stealing any second chances to see him pound the pavement.

I was 24 when I met a Thunder Bay couple that had been on the Trans-Canada Highway to see Fox run on the day his marathon ended. They were among the last Canadians to cheer him on that journey.

I met them while covering the 1995 Terry Fox run in Thunder Bay, as a newspaper reporter. They fought to get through the telling of their then 15-year-old memory and their detailing of how cancer had gripped their circle of family and friends since 1980. I had goosebumped arms, hairs standing on my neck and a lump in my throat when they were through. I walked much of the route with them that day.

I’m pleased my children consider Fox a hero too. They’re captivated by what he took on and the courage he demonstrated in chasing after it – one step at a time – though they never lived through his magical journey. My children, now adults, are still held by the Fox who inspired them as kids. That’s great to see. Our family has made participating in the annual Fox run one of our annual rites and we’ll keep honouring that.

This year, I’ve signed on with the volunteer team of people organizing and supporting the Guelph Terry Fox Run. It’s set for its usual time – third Sunday in September – at Silvercreek Park.

The local campaign has a few new features. To celebrate the 44th anniversary of Terry’s incredible run, we’re challenging businesses to donate $44. Check out the Guelph44 donation site for more details. Please consider having your business back #Guelph44 or supporting the Guelph run – or any other Fox run, any way you can.

Guelph’s run takes place on Sept. 15. You can register to enter as an individual or team. For more information, check out: Facebook?Terry Fox Guelph; Instagram?@TerryFoxRunGuelph or X?@TerryFoxGuelph or reach out to the team at [email protected]

I hope you add to Terry’s incredible and enduring legacy.

Phil Andrews is a Senior Communications Consultant with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. He worked in the daily newspaper industry for more than 20 years. This article revisits a yesteryear column he wrote for the Guelph Mercury. He can be reached at [email protected]