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Reliving Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope: Day 121

This is how it all began. On April 12, 1980, Terry Fox began an epic cross-country journey to raise money for cancer research. CBC Radio and Television followed Terry's Marathon of Hope from the beginning. To celebrate this historic event, we present these reports as they were first aired.

Terry Fox is getting a little tired of recent questions from the media... and you can hear it in his voice. He has run more than half way across Canada. He has already raised more than a million dollars for cancer research. But all reporters want to talk about is how much pain he's in. As Terry runs through northern Ontario, he takes a moment to chat with CBC Radio about bleeding on his amputated stump. And he dismisses any thought of giving up his quest.
• Terry Fox was upset about all the attention paid to the chafing and bleeding on the stump of his amputated leg. But, according to author Leslie Scrivener, Terry was incensed by a profile that had just appeared in the Globe and Mail. It depicted him as "a tyrannical brother while Darrell had the Cinderella role of van-sweeper." The story also claimed Terry was running to carry out a grudge against a doctor at Simon Fraser University who had misdiagnosed his condition.

• The Globe story weakened Terry's trust in the media, which he had considered a partner in his fundraising run. "If they are not positive about the run, I won't talk to them," Terry said. "I'm not here to play games with the media. I don't need all that extra pressure." Terry felt that the newspaper misrepresented what Darrell had said, but he prohibited Darrell from speaking to the media for the remainder of the run.

• Terry did have a quick temper, exacerbated by the strain of the running, media demands and health issues. It is true that he would sometimes lash out at his brother Darrell, driver Doug Alward and others in his entourage. But Darrell always acknowledged that it was only a result of the strain, and said he didn't mind being an outlet for his big brother's frustrations. He regretted his comments to the Globe, saying "it bugged me for the rest of the trip."

• On a more positive note, around this time Terry's older brother Fred arrived for a vacation. And Terry and his entourage got a welcome gift: a new, larger, 22-foot (6.7-metre) camper van for them to sleep in. It was provided by General Motors and a Vancouver car dealer.

• When a Sault Ste. Marie radio station mentioned that a spring had broken in the knee joint of Terry's artificial leg, a local welder immediately drove out to where Terry's run was stalled and fixed the spring on the spot.
Medium: Radio
Program: Sound of Sports
Broadcast Date: Aug. 10, 1980
Guest(s): Terry Fox
Host: Rick Cluff
Duration: 2:07

Last updated: April 2, 2012

Page consulted on March 26, 2013

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