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Local schools ready for Terry Fox Run

As the Terry Fox Run comes off on Sunday to raise funds for cancer research, local schools are also joining the national effort with their own in-house events to contribute to the cause.

Barr Colony School is on board as grades 4-6 were walking or running around Messum Park on Friday afternoon and grades 1-3 were doing their fundraising exercises around the school’s soccer field.

Grade sixer Kamryn Cocking says Terry Fox had bone cancer and his right leg was amputated above the knee, but it did not stop him from using an artificial limb to run across Canada.

“No matter how much pain it put him in, because I heard his prosthetic leg was not made for running; it was made for walking. He still ran all the way to Thunder Bay.”

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Fox was not able to complete his cross country run stopping outside Thunder Bay due to chest pains on Sept. 1, 1980. It was discovered that the cancer had spread to his lungs. He passed away in June 1981.

Both Kamryn Cocking and grade five’s Robert Hotel have lost a family member to cancer.

Robert sees the importance of the effort that Terry Fox made.

“I know that Terry Fox was diagnosed with bone cancer. So he wanted to run from Newfoundland to British Columbia to raise donations for cancer research.”

When Fox stopped running he had covered over 5000 km and the run which started very slowly without much attention had inspired many to donate some $1.7 million. By early 1981, some $24 million in donations had been raised.

On Sept. 13, 1981, the first Terry Fox Run was held. As of 2020, over 800 million dollars has been raised through the run which has become an annual event in over 60 countries.

From Sept. 21-29 other schools in the Lloydminster Public School Division will be holding similar Terry Fox events including Queen Elizabeth School on Sept. 21, ES Laird, College Park, Bishop Lloyd and Winston Churchill on Sept. 23,  and Rendell Park on Sept. 29.

As of Friday local organizers had already surpassed their goal of $4000 with the online tally registering about $7000. The local leg will be run at Bud Miller Park from 10 a.m. to noon on Sunday.

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