Sunday, September 16, 2012

The Determination of Terry Fox

I am a storyteller. Often, when dealing with a misbehaving child at my school, I'll subject the unfortunate student to one of my anecdotes. Although often met with a great deal of eye rolling, every once and awhile you'll strike a chord. One of my favorite stories involves Terry Fox. But let me fill you in on some background first. Terry and I both grew up in Port Coquitlam. Terry was a year older than me and we attended the same junior and senior secondary schools. At first, I mainly knew Terry from sports: my pathetic attempts to make basketball teams and my more successful attempts to make rugby squads. Terry, meanwhile, made both teams with ease due to his athletic ability and sheer determination.

It wasn't until later, after he had his surgery to remove his cancerous leg, that Terry and I got to know one another better. We were lab partners in a Kinesiology class together at SFU about a year after his surgery. Terry was still undergoing chemo treatments. Terry was a class act. When another student commented negatively on his wig, Terry said: "I've got cancer. This is only until my own grows back". But I'm digressing.

The story to tell today, from a short time later, defines him, inspires me, and is one I have shared with hundreds of my students: I had arranged to meet a friend at a local school to go for a run along the Poco Trail. Coincidentally, Terry was at the school at the same time. What I saw did not look good. Terry was trying to run on his artificial leg for the first time. He was literally taking one step and falling flat on his face. He would then get back up and do it again. A quick check indicated that, yes, he was okay. Some time later, upon returning from my run, Terry was still at it. Now, however, now he was managing to get in 2 strides before falling face down. I thought to myself: I'd have quit by now. He must really be hurting. Another quick check indicated that he was still okay (although I couldn't imagine how that could be) and that, yes, he was going to get this.

We know the rest of the story already. But there are a lot of things I don't know that I wish I did. For example: How many more laps of that track and falls did it take Terry to master a sustained run? And I can't imagine how long he must have trained and how much pain he must have endured in order to be able to complete a marathon worth of running on a daily basis for months on end. I suspect that he may have remained on that track that day for some time, because that was Terry: determination personified and an inspiration to all who either knew him or know of him.