For students at Yorkton Regional High School, the Terry Fox Run hit closer to home than it has before. One of their own, Chad Young, is recovering from the same type of cancer as Terry Fox had, osteosarcoma, and Fred Fox, Terry Fox’s brother also came to help lead the run and speak to the students.
It started a year ago, when Young found a small lump on his back. It was difficult to see, but uncomfortable, so he went to his doctor to see what was going on. That lead to a trip to Saskatoon for more scans, which lead to finding out it was a tumor, and was cancerous. He started chemotherapy a week later, and found out he was going to lose his leg after having to go to Toronto for surgery after Christmas. That was followed by another round of chemotherapy, and now Young’s most recent scans have shown him to be free of cancer, something which makes him happy.
While adjusting to living with one leg is difficult, Young says, and doing simple tasks like using the shower require a completely new approach, he’s happy to be recovering and to be back at school. Like a typical teenage boy, he’s also happy that he still has his right leg, because that means he can still drive.
“I just tried to get back to normal as much as I could, as much as possible.”
Getting back to normal has been helped by the staff and students at YRHS, and Young says that everyone has gone “way out of their way” to help him get back into school again after a year battling cancer.
The Terry Fox Run is a way for Fox to tell the story of his brother, and reach kids who were the same age as Terry was when he was diagnosed with cancer.
“Terry wasn’t the biggest athlete, the best athlete or the smartest kid in class, but with hard work he overcame a lot of challenges.”
Travelling to schools is important to Fox because they are the same as Terry was, as he was just a kid when he received a cancer diagnosis. He says that he hopes to inspire kids by telling Terry’s story, but that he is also inspired by the kids themselves as they take up the cause.
“I think it’s awesome that kids, the next generation, are continuing his story, continuing his dream to find a cure for cancer. It was young kids who inspired Terry, he saw young kids going through the same thing.”
Meeting a student who went through the same diagnosis that his brother did shows that the last 36 years have been well spent, because Young is doing well.
“He’s had a rough go, but it shows that the work that has been done, the money that has been raised over the years, is truly making a difference in the lives of those who have been diagnosed with cancer.”
That said, there is still more work to be done. Fox lost his father to lung cancer in March, and says that while he was not able to benefit from some of the research that the Terry Fox Foundation is funding, millions of others have.
“There is a lot of work to go, but we also know many people who have lived 20, 15, 30 years longer because of the research that’s going on.”
Young says he’s proud to be following in Terry’s footsteps, and is amazed by what he has done and what his legacy has been.
“I really appreciate what he did, and he’s a true hero.”
But Young is now focused on his future, and the fact that he still has one.
“I’m still here, that’s all that matters... I’m taking life more seriously now, it’s not just a game.”
