A five-year-old Okotoks boy inspired a family-wide fundraising event in support of a 40-year-old Canadian tradition this month.
With the Terry Fox Run going virtual in light of the COVID-19 virus, avid participants Blair and Ellen MacNeil decided to mark the 40th anniversary of Fox’s Marathon of Hope with a family-wide walk on Sept. 20.
It wasn’t until their five-year-old son Raymond came up with the idea of making five trips around the pond in the Air Ranch Wildlife Preserve, with one trip walking, two biking and two riding his scooter, that the family decided to register Raymond with the Terry Fox Foundation to collect donations from family and friends for the cause.
“He has participated in the walk every year of his life in our community,” said Ellen. “Raymond talks about Terry Fox all the time and we talk about him a lot as a family.”
Fox became a household name while attempting to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research in 1980, despite having had his right leg amputated at the age of 18 after he was diagnosed with bone cancer.
Fox began his Marathon of Hope in the Atlantic provinces in April, running 5,373 kilometres in 143 days before he was forced to stop near Thunder Bay, Ontario when it was discovered the cancer had spread to his lungs. He passed away the following year at the age of 22.
In awe of Fox’s achievements, Raymond was all smiles as he biked, rode his scooter and walked on Sunday afternoon. He even practised a few tricks on his scooter along the way, including some bunny hops, tweaks and light sabres.
“We need to get more money for cancer to find a cure,” he said.
Ellen said the family received a phone call from the Calgary Terry Fox Foundation informing them that Raymond is one of the top individual fundraisers for the foundation in western Canada this year.
Raymond's initiative had raised $1,430 in one week.
“They invited Raymond to go to the Terry Fox Foundation office in Calgary to see a replica of Terry’s leg,” said Ellen.
Ellen said the Terry Fox Run has been a big part of both her and her husband’s lives since they were children.
“It’s something my family has always done,” she said. “I grew up doing it (in Ontario) and my husband grew up doing it (in Cape Breton).”
Cancer has had a direct impact on Ellen, who lost her older sister to the disease at the young age of 33.
“It’s very emotional for me,” said Ellen, adding she also has cancer survivors in her family. “My twin sister Claire had thyroid cancer and my mother had breast cancer.”
To donate to the Terry Fox Foundation through Raymond’s fundraiser to go http://www.terryfox.ca/RaymondMacNeil
