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Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope

charity Terry Fox

Terry was an 18-year-old first year Kinesiology student at Simon Fraser University and a member of the SFU junior varsity basketball team in 1977 when he was diagnosed with bone cancer that resulted in the amputation of his right leg six inches above the knee. After undergoing chemotherapy and seeing other people, particularly children, suffering with cancer, Terry decided that he wanted to make a difference in the world. He wanted to do something to help cure this dreadful disease.

Terry began his Marathon of Hope on April 12, 1980 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. When he was forced by a recurrence of cancer to stop his cross-Canada run at Thunder Bay, Ontario, on September 1, 1980, he had completed a total of 5,373 km over 143 days, the equivalent of a marathon every day. After a courageous battle with cancer, he passed away in June 1981.

Few people are aware of the physical enormity of what Terry did in his Marathon of Hope run across Canada. He ran 26 miles per day, 7 days per week. Imagine how sore your legs would be if you walked 26 miles, day after day, on pavement. Smiles, day after day. Few people could stand up to such punishment. Then try to imagine how incredibly difficult and painful it would be to run 26 miles per day with an artificial limb. It is almost beyond comprehension.

It was a journey that Canadians will never forget. His courage, determination, humanitarianism, and selflessness have been an inspiration to millions of people.

Quoting: http://www.sfu.ca/terryfox/about.html

See also: http://www.terryfox.org/TerryFox/Facts.html

Photo Source: https://www.google.ca/search?q=terry+fox&biw=1366&bih=624&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=UOOAVOuuH46tyAT-9IHoAg&sqi=2&ved=0CCkQsAQ#imgdii=_

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Boots That Delivered

charity unicef boots

If these boots could talk, they would tell you an amazing story. Worn by Canadian Nigel Fisher, they have visited thirteen countries and have trekked over 100,000 kilometres during thirty years with the UN and UNICEF. They have walked through deserts, mountains, tropical rainforests, jungles, sandstorms and torrential rains. Nigel’s footwear brought emergency and vaccination programs to millions of children.

These boots navigated through the perilous rubble of Port-au-Prince after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. They witnessed negotiations between the Afghan government, the opposing Northern Alliance and an international coalition to ensure a polio vaccination campaign could proceed following the bombings when war broke out in 2001. Nigel wore them when he visited a UNICEF-supported shelter for girls in Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo, who had been brutally raped by militias, some of them captured for years, many with babies.  The stories go on and on, just like the boots did.

Canadian humanitarian Nigel Fisher’s life-saving boots were inducted into the Bata Shoe Museum in 2012.

http://www.unicef.ca/en/video/the-story-of-a-pair-of-boots

https://secure3.unicef.ca/site/SPageServer?pagename=about_boots&s_locale=en_CA

http://www.unicef.ca/en/press-release/canadian-humanitarians-life-saving-boots-inducted-into-the-bata-shoe-museum

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“Walking with the Wounded”: A Charity with Team Spirit

charity walking with the wounded south pole

What was initially a 335-km race to the South Pole between British, American and Commonwealth teams had a surprise ending. The fierce but fun competition was suspended due to dangerous conditions. The teams merged into one group for the last part of the trek.

Each of the soldiers on Prince Harry’s team had lost a limb in action, and one lost both legs in Afghanistan. Yet, each would haul a 75-kilogram sled. They had a serious goal: to raise money and awareness for “Walking with the Wounded”. This veterans’ charity helps retrain soldiers for life after the military.

Ed Parker, director of the expedition, told the press about the moment when the teams reached the South Pole: “It was very emotional. We took off our skis and hooked off our sledges and stood together before walking up to the Pole as one.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/prince-harrys-party-team-race-to-the-south-pole/article15644570/

http://parade.com/243138/roisinkelly/prince-harry-and-teammates-reach-the-south-pole/

Photo Source:  http://walkingwiththewounded.org.uk/southpole2013/category/south-pole-2013/

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One Pair at a Time

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Lita’s Story: Tracings in the Attic

            http://tracings.litajudge.com/stories1.html

 “When I was cleaning out my grandmother’s attic after her death, I found a dusty box stuffed with aged yellowed envelopes. I was intrigued when I lifted out the first envelope; it had a German stamp postmarked 1947 and inside were two paper foot tracings. The next envelope also contained foot tracings and the next and the next. Some were cut out in the shape of feet, others were drawn on paper, tracing the outline of an entire family’s feet…

 I carried the box downstairs to show my mom. She reached for the envelope I held out to her. “You found the tracings,” she said. “I thought Mother had burned them.”

 Mom held the tracings like treasured belongings. “We searched everywhere to find shoes for them all,” she said. She remembered piles of shoes when she was a little girl, and boxes filled with clothes and food to send to people starving in Europe after World War II. She remembered they sent soap and candles too, even toys and sweets for the children. And they knitted socks to fill the shoes they sent.”

 As many Americans gave shoes, post-war Europeans stepped into them. Each tracing identified a person and a size.  Cut by desperate hands and sent in envelopes to the US, the tracings put feet to international reconciliation. One pair at a time.