Terry Fox: A Canadian Hero

In Canada, Terry Fox is always suggested to be a hero who offered by way of clues to a Canadian cultural identity. Terry Fox is a famous Canadian athlete and cancer research activist. In 1980, his efforts for embarking on a cross-Canada run to make people recognize the importance of cancer research, with one of his legs amputated, successfully influenced and engaged millions of people. Terry Fox quotes that to him, being famous himself is not the idea of the run, while the only important part for him is the Marathon of Hope. (1980) In this essay, I am going to analyze the heroism, nationalism and identity that Terry Fox brings to Canadian history.

Having to deal with the consequences of his amputation, he cries and cries and found it hard to deal with because he had dreams of becoming a basketball player and he excelled in sports but terry was determined to fight back. He then planned something extraordinary, to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research.

However, dressed in Achilles’s armor, Patroclus took on the Trojan army and eventually Hector, the great hero of Troy. “But at last he met Hector face to face and his doom was sealed as surely as a boar is doomed when he faces a lion” (270). Although Hector kills Patroclus, Patroclus did what needed to be done to rally the Greeks towards a singular goal. Also, his death sparked Achilles to fight for the Greeks which turned the tide of the war. “I will kill the destroyer of him” is Achilles talking, clearly inspired by the actions of Patroclus (271). Terry Fox has also sacrificed himself to rally people towards a singular goal. “I’ve said to people before that I’m going to do my very best to make it, I’m not going to give up. But I might not make it… if I don’t, the Marathon of Hope better continue” (Fox). During his “Marathon of Hope” Fox suffered from cancer, but he began the trek across Canada anyway. He did it to raise money for cancer, and even though he stopped the run and eventually died, Fox succeeded in his goal. Since his death, over people around the world inspired by Terry Fox raised over $350 million dollars in his cancer foundation. This courage and level of sacrifice that both Terry Fox and Patroclus share are why they are heroes.

He took on his new challenge as he usually had. Terry made himself strong by pushing his wheel chair. He would push himself along the sea wall of Stanley Park in Vancouver or find a steep mountain of a log road and would go to his hands bled. Two years after Terry stated his training to run, so nobody could see him he ran his first half-mile in the dark. For fifteen months of training and after running 3159 miles his stump was raw and bleeding. Terry ran 101 days everyday he ran 23 miles a day and only stopped for Christmas because his mother asked him. Terry was always determined. One day when his artificial leg broke he hitchhiked home and fixed his leg and ran another 5 miles. He told his mother about his journey to run across Canada his mother told him he was crazy but when she told his father he simple asked "When?"

I chose this song because, in my opinion, it has a good thesis that backs up the song lyrics and it gives you a positive feeling. Basically, the song is telling us to always keep our faith and stay strong no matter what. It encourages people to

“Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” The words of the great Jimmy Valvano. Jimmy was a Men’s Basketball Coach at N.C. State University. He is one of the greatest coaches of all time. But he is also the man who delivered the “Never Give Up” speech at the ESPY Awards in 1993. This has inspired so many people. It’s the thought of Cancer that often brings Jimmy into mind. Stuart Scott is also very inspirational when it comes to cancer. A real inspiration is Mrs. Spatz. She has beat cancer 4 times. Over and over again, she has fought and beat cancer. She is now a teacher at Wyndcroft Private School in Pottstown. Although she is my mother, she creates inspiration for many

Many people can relate to his personal battle with cancer and his dedication to cancer research. His speech was full of emotion. He gave examples of his anguish during a seven-day stay before the awards ceremony, explaining his liver complications, kidney failure, and multiple surgeries. This provided the audience with real life experiences to understand the depth of what this award stands for.

This theme is brought through the song by showing multiple literary devices. Such as “I'm the one at sail, I’m the master of my sea”. This metaphor shows the realization and empowerment that oneself can give in a depressing situation. This simile “Falling like ashes to the ground, Hoping my feelings they would drown” compares his feeling of sadness and depression to ashes, and wanting them to drown and vanish, from his life. This line, “All the hate that you’ve heard has turned your spirit to a dove” explains how all of the hate that he has experienced and gone through has turned his feelings around, and decided to look on the bright side of things. Personally I think this is a great

Numerous structures were build by Terry Fox’s name like highways,parks and schools around the nation. He won three awards that were Persons of National Historic significance (national historic person),Canadian Newsmaker of the year (broadcast about Terry Fox),Lou Marsh trophy (recognizes canadian athlete). He ran 3,107 miles and raised 24.17 million dollars for cancer research. Half way across Canada he was forced to stop running because his cancer appeared in his lungs. He went to the hospital and the doctor said he was going

When Terry was only eighteen he was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (a type of bone cancer) which led to the amputation of his right leg amputated just above the knee. During his treatment, Terry had discovered that many children (most of them younger than him) were going through treatments of their own. This is where the first ideas for the run across Canada had begun. As most Canadians know, the marathon was cut short due to the cancer coming back and unfortunately had spread to his lungs. However, during his run Terry had caught the attention of the media. Televisions stations started covering when Terry would arrive in their area to try to get an interview. To encourage people to donate, Terry said “If you’ve given a dollar, you’ve given to the Marathon of Hope.” He was getting his message out which was most important to him and his family. As citizens slowly became more aware that countless children were going through this terrible disease. “It’s one thing to run across Canada, but now, people are really going to know what cancer is.” was one of the responses to reporters questioning why he would attempt such a feat. I feel that Terry Fox and his “Marathon of Hope” are most certainly a defining moment because it shows how we can band together for a good cause. Out of one citizens kindness, an entire country was now donating money towards a cure for such a life changing disease which, really had no cure at that time. Look where we are now, this event helped an entire country realize that we could make a

Randy Pausch had many stories that anyone would love to hear. Every story that he would tell gave a lesson to the audience. One story that Mr. Pausch talked about was when he was pulled over for speeding and the cop asked him what brought him to Virginia (since Mr. Pausch had a Pennsylvania drivers license.) Mr. Pausch replied “Since you’ve asked, I have terminal cancer. I have just months to live. We’ve moved

Not all elements and symbols of patriotism should come in the form of flowers, anthems, or flags. In fact, some are just living human, human beings. Those people have done tremendous jobs which cannot be expressed in mere words. From a tender age, Canadians are trained to appreciate that some of the country’s honored symbols are their fellow compatriots who have achieved great fame or success for their positive contributions as well as various good deeds to their country.

Greg Thomas, a 57-year-old man from Minnesota, was avidly searching for a miracle after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Thomas was given only months to live after doctors determined he had stage four cancer in his head and neck. Doctors even went as far as to tell his family to start planning his funeral. Even though he didn't have much strength, Thomas liked to deal with the stress of his illness by walking his dog.

An idea that interested me in the song “Fix you” by Coldplay was how you will always have someone to lean on no matter what. When Chris sings “lights will guide home” he is using personification in this line because saying the lights will guide them is a human thing to do, as people guide each other which I think Chris is trying to demonstrate when he sings the lyrics “lights will guide you home.” It shows life itself because no matter how big the mistakes you make, no matter how bad life may seem, there will always be someone that will have your back. This reminds me of my friends who are always there for me whether its for when I’m feeling down or if I’ve had a bad day. These lyrics also emphasize that everyone goes through rough patchs in their life and they should let people try to help them. When my dog died this year, I didn’t take it well and I was distraught, but it made me going through the loss easier

It highlights the struggles that are happening for people. There are some great guitar riffs and distortion. It has a verses/chorus composition. The song is a little bit slower to begin, but soon picks up the tempo, it is a great song to sing along because the lyrics are not distorted by the instruments, like you find with some other bands. This song was written by Richie Sambora, Jon Bon Jovi, and Desmond Child.