FONYO

Terry Fox was a kid who developed bone cancer and at age 18 had his leg amputated. In 1979 (a real great year) he revealed his plan to raise awareness of cancer and money for research. He appealed to the Canadian Cancer Society for help with funding a run across Canada, his Marathon of Hope, and they agreed to back him. Fox pledge to raise $24 million on his trip and got corporate donations from the Ford Motor Company, Imperial Oil, Adidas, and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. Isadore Sharp, the CEO of Four Seasons, pledged $2 a mile and coaxed almost 1,000 more corporations to follow suit. Terry started his trip in Saint John’s, Newfoundland, in April of 1980. By July, he was in Ontario throwing out the first pitch at a Blue Jays game and meeting with hockey heroes. Before he was able to make it to Manitoba, coughing fits forced Fox to end his run and seek medical attention. His cancer had spread to his lungs.

He was forced to end his cross country marathon shortly after it began but not before raising $1.7 million. Fox was named Newsmaker of the Year and gifted Order of the Dogwood, British Columbia’s highest honour. He was given the Lou Marsh Award, the country’s highest athletic award, and the national Sports Hall of Fame commissioned a permanent exhibit for him. Fox was given the Companion of the Order of Canada, the highest honour bestowed by Canada, in recognition of outstanding achievement and merit of the highest degree in service to humanity. He died the following June. Today there are tremendous monuments and statues to Terry Fox all across the country. 32 roads and streets, 14 schools, 14 athletic centers and community facilities, 13 municipal and provincial parks, and 9 hiking trails are named after Terry Fox. There are also three films and three books about the man. Oh, and there’s also a Coast Guard icebreaker, a research lab, a strip mall, a theatre, a holiday, a scholarship, a $1 commemorative coin, a postage stamp, and a mountain peak named after Terry Fox. Oh, and there is an annual Terry Fox Run that happens all across the country and the world.

At age 12, Steve Fonyo had his leg amputated to address spreading bone cancer. In 1980, he was present during a speech given by Terry Fox in Vancouver. Fonyo also wanted to do good things, to help people, and was so moved by Fox that, despite not being athletic at all, he sought to follow in Fox’s footsteps and try to cross the country raising awareness and funds for cancer research. At age 18, in March of 1984, he set off on his own Journey for Lives, beginning in Newfoundland — but without any corporate backing and without the endorsement of the Canadian Cancer Society. The Society didn’t want to taint their own or Fox’s legacy and rejected his attempts to gain their support. 425 days after he began, Fonyo completed his 8,000km journey in Victoria, BC. He raised $14 million ($38 million in 2025). Fonyo was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for his efforts. In 1987 Fonyo then crossed Great Britain from north to south in another cancer research run. His father died from lung cancer while he was over there. And that was Steve's last run.

Fonyo went on to become a mechanic. He also struggled with depression. Addiction, drunk driving charges, a criminal conviction, and jail time followed. He was accused of stealing from a supermarket and writing thousands worth of fraudulent cheques at grocery stores. And so, just to kick a man while he’s down and to show how enlightened we as a nation have become around mental health, Canada’s Governor General decided to revoke Fonyo’s Order of Canada. The Canadian Cancer Society gladly kept the millions he raised for them, of course, and all of the approximately $50 million in interest they had earned on it by this point. Weird how that happens. Eventually, in 2015, a documentary about Fonyo’s life won the Platform Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival followed by the Best Feature Length Documentary award at the Canadian Screen Awards. At the same time, Fonyo was stabbed in a home invasion and left in a coma with a traumatic brain injury. He recovered to some degree. And then in 2022, when Steve was in Burnaby seeking a new prosthetic leg, he suffered a seizure and died.

The beach in Victoria where Steve Fonyo finished his cross country run is named after him. Perched above it is a statue of Terry Fox.