Terry Fox's cancer now highly curable

When Fox was diagnosed in 1977, doctors amputated one of his legs above the knee, and he underwent chemotherapy treatments for 16 months.

He died in 1981 at the age of 22 after the disease spread to his lungs, but not before he attempted to run across Canada on his prosthetic limb and captured the imagination of Canadians.

By the time the spread of his cancer forced Fox to halt the Marathon of Hope, he'd raised $1.7 million for cancer research. The annual Terry Fox Run, first held in 1981, has raised more than $600 million for the cause.

The fact that Fox's cancer can now be beaten “tells us that research is working,” said Frances Summerhill, the honourary chair of Sudbury's annual Terry Fox Run, which took place in Bell Park Sept. 14.

“What people need to understand is cancer isn't one disease, it's 200 diseases,” she said.

“So these researchers are trying to cure 200 diseases, and yes, progress is being made. People are living longer with cancer. It's awesome.”

Last year, the local Terry Fox Run brought in $43,000. Summerhill said she hoped to surpass that amount this year, raising at least $45,000.

Appendix cancer survivor Jim Christison shared his story at the local run. After being diagnosed seven years ago, he underwent a long, complicated surgery involving the removal of his appendix and spleen.

His stomach and colon were taken out of his body and subjected to chemotherapy for hours, and put back inside him. Today he's cancer-free and doing well.

When he was diagnosed, the operation he needed had only been around for five years.

“If would have been diagnosed when Terry Fox was diagnosed years ago, I probably wouldn't be alive today,” Christison said. “If he was diagnosed when I was diagnosed, maybe he'd be alive today.”

As usual, many of the few hundred people at the local Terry Fox Run were students living in Laurentian University's residences.

Even though Laurentian student and residence assistant Josh Meek-Levis wasn't even born when Fox was running across the country, he said he's grown up hearing about him.

Not only did his his elementary school had its own Terry Fox Run, his grandparents told him about seeing Fox running near Thunder Bay.

“I personally couldn't imagine going through what he went through with the run,” Meek-Levis said. “It's amazing how far he did run and what he did, and standing up for what he believed in, which I think is awesome.”