Courage

I said back in 2023 that it would be my last post on my cancer from 30 years prior (at that time). And it is - in term of those regards and specifics. 

In two days, it will be 33 years of being being cleared of Chondrasarcoma. 

But today also brings together three things I love - being cancer free. running. the Hip. 

Terry Fox was a Canadian athlete who became a cancer research activist. Having one leg amputated due to cancer, he had a goal to run across the entire length of Canada to raise money and awareness for cancer research......on an artificial leg.  

This would be prosthetic technology from 1980, not Oscar Pistorius swag. You know, minus the gun and the girlfriend in the bathroom thing. 

The Marathon of Hope. 

His goal: $1 for every Canadian citizen - at the time, 24 million.

Starting in Newfoundland, he would eventually run westward every day for 143 days and over 3,300 miles (almost a full marathon every single day!) before having to abandon his quest - as his cancer returned. He would die about eight months later, but having raised almost $2M for cancer research. 

From there on, there would be Terry Fox Runs throughout Canada - and then spreading to the US,  Europe and Asia - to continue awareness and fundraising. 

As of January 2026, over $1Billion has been raised in his name. With a B. 

At some point I want to be part of that fundraising. I want to be part of one of those runs. It hits close to home for me. I got to keep my leg and my life. 

In 2025, the Tragically Hip gladly allowed the Terry Fox Foundation use their song "Courage" for an ad to promote their runs. Hip lead singer, Gord Downie, died almost a decade before this ad of cancer himself. 

The music provided on the video is the final verse/chorus from yesterday's posted song, but stripped down to only vocal and piano. 

YouTube brought up the ad for me months ago and anytime it pops up, I watch. Every single time. Start to finish. 

Song by: the Tragically Hip