More than 300 students and staff of the Kamsack Comprehensive Institute were joined by community members on September 30 to participate in the school’s annual Terry Fox event.
Held following the school’s open house, which had included a noon lunch, the event began with a brief opening ceremony led by Cassidy Aker, the student council president, and Allison Thomsen, vice-president.
During the ceremony, the students were reminded of Terry Fox, his Marathon of Hope, his fight against cancer and his wish to raise funds for cancer research. A brief silence was observed in honour of people lost to cancer and those still fighting the disease.
Mayor Rod Gardner thanked the students for allowing him and other members of the community to participate and said that he would like to see these fundraising events continue.
“It is good that you continue to carry on Terry’s dream,” Gardner said. “I hope you raise a lot of money for the cause.”
Because of the wet ground due to the morning’s heavy rainfall, it was decided that instead of walking around the racetrack on the school grounds as had been the practice, all participants would walk on the pavement around a block near to the school. The parade was led by Cst. Jon Neima of the Kamsack RCMP and members of the Kamsack air cadets bearing flags.
This year marks the 35th annual Terry Fox Run being made “in honour of an ordinary man who did something extraordinary,” Aker had told the students during the opening ceremony.
The Terry Fox Run is a non-competitive event where people get together as individuals, families, and groups to raise money for cancer research in Terry's name, says information on the Terry Fox Internet site. “It is a day of celebrating Terry's legacy and helping to keep alive his dream of finding a cure for cancer.
“Terry Fox Runs take place in over 9,000 communities across Canada every year and are accessible to anyone with no entry fee, no minimum pledge and a non-competitive atmosphere. Participants can run, walk, blade or bike and, most of all, have fun while raising funds for cancer research.
“Terry Fox was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) in his right leg in 1977 and had his leg amputated 15 cm (six inches) above the knee,” the site says. “While in hospital, Terry was so overcome by the suffering of other cancer patients that he decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. He called his journey the Marathon of Hope.
“Terry's Marathon of Hope took place in 1980 with the simple objective of informing Canadians of the importance of finding a cure for cancer. With fierce determination, he ran an average of 42 kilometres (26 miles) every day for 143 days. Terry was forced to end his run on September 1, 1980 when the cancer spread to his lungs.
“By February 1, 1981, Terry's dream of raising $1 for every Canadian was realized: the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope fund totalled $24.17 million. Terry died in June 1981.
“On May 26, 1988, The Terry Fox Run became a trust, independent from the Canadian Cancer Society, and received tax-exempt charitable registration as a public foundation.
“The Terry Fox Foundation is responsible for supporting close to $20 million in discovery based research each year in Canada,” it said. “To date, over $650 million has been raised worldwide for cancer research in Terry's name.”
