The Annual Terry Fox Run at Boissevain School is taking place this week Thursday, and the entire community is invited to join them, not only in fundraising efforts for cancer research but also in the run / walk itself. And there is also a bike run to Ninga for those who are up for the challenge.
Mr. Trevor Laing has just started his 24th year as Grade 8 teacher at Boissevain School. Mr. Laing takes the lead with organizing the school's Terry Fox Run - something he's been doing for about a decade now.
But the Boissevain School has been raising money for the Terry Fox Foundation for over three decades, this year marking their 36th year.
"Last year we received our 35-year banner," says Laing. "Over the years, I believe the Boissevain School has raised in the ballpark of $240,000 since we first began."
He notes last year was a nice rebound year for fundraising.
"During COVID, things kind of cooled off and we didn't raise as much as we wanted, but last year one of the things the Terry Fox organization has done is we can buy t-shirts now that go towards your fundraising goal. I was a little unsure how they would sell but the response has been unbelievable," says Mr. Laing. "I believe we've sold this year about $2500 worth of T-shirts between staff and the kids in the school. And that goes towards our final goal."
He says this year's goal is $10,000.
"I know last year we were just slightly under. I believe we were at $9980," he adds. "And it'd be nice to make that $10,000 goal. It's quite a ceiling and I believe over the years we've only hit it one or two times. So, I thought it would be nice to break that one more time this year!"
Being just $20 shy of that $10,000 mark last year was a disappointment. They were so close but didn't know it.
"And it was funny because you don't really know how much you've made until a few months afterwards," he explains, "and had I known we were that close, we definitely would have made it a little bit extra effort. But yeah, it was so close, but hopefully this year we'll get to that $10,000."
A conversation on cancer sparks awareness and optimism with students
During a recent classroom discussion, students were asked to raise their hands if they had been affected—either directly or indirectly—by a particular disease. The response was strikingly in line with national statistics, where two to three out of every five individuals report some level of personal connection to it.
One student voiced his thoughts with, “We should have cured this by now.”
It’s a thought that resonates with many, especially considering that decades of research—spanning 35 to 40 years—have yet to yield a definitive cure, says Laing.
"And I said, 'Well, it's not cured, but the odds of survival have gone up so much with new technologies and research and things like that, and eventually we'll get there. Yes, it's taking longer than we would hope, but we're getting closer and closer with every day.'"
"So, cancer affects us, and I know we've had staff members deal with it, and we've had close family members deal with it and it's just something unfortunately that everybody can kind of relate to. I guess the goal would be for us not to be able to very relate to it, but I don't believe we're there yet, so we keep going."
Honouring a Canadian hero through awareness and action
Laing says sharing the story of Terry Fox is more than just about raising money. It's about raising awareness of the cancer research that is taking place through the Terry Fox Foundation around the world - and the story behind this young man himself who championed raising money for cancer research through his Marathon of Hope that first started 45 years ago.
The Fox family has ties to Ninette. Terry's grandparents had a cottage on the shores of Pelican Lake and Terry and his brother, Fred remember spending summer vacation at their grandparent's house. The Terry Fox Park on the north side of Pelican Lake right in Ninette was named after this dynamic 19-year-old teenager who led the country in a nation-wide initiative to find a cure.
As a high school student in Port Coquitlam, BC Terry loved sports, especially basketball. The cancer diagnosis of osteogenic sarcoma just above his right knee, and the subsequent amputation of his leg led Terry to believe there needed to be more funds raised for more research.
At 19 years of age, Terry dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean on April 12th, 1980 and began his Marathon of Hope to cross Canada to raise money and awareness.
The entire country cheered Terry on, and many joined him on their own portion of the marathon when he would pass through their community. However, cancer would cut his trip shorter than anticipated all too soon. Cancer returned, but this time to his lungs, and he was forced to stop in Thunder Bay, Ontario on September 1st, 1980 after having run 5,373 km.
Telling the story still moves a nation and inspires new generations
"You know, one of the goals is to make sure that everybody knows who Terry Fox is and what he did and what he did was just unbelievable and amazing. And as an old guy, you have to take a step back and realize that these students weren't alive when he was running his marathon of hope," Mr. Laing chuckles to himself. "And to be honest, a lot of their parents weren't alive either."
"So, I think it's important as the older generation not to lose that," he's quick to add. "And we do that through stories and the school library has a wide variety of books that pay tribute to Terry. And I always make sure every year that we watch some videos and we get a chance to talk about him and about what he did and how unbelievable it was that he even conceived of doing such a such an amazing thing."
What many don't realize is that Terry's leg prosthetic was not built for running, not like sports prosthetics are built today for athletes with physical disabilities. This was 1980 when that technology wasn't in place yet.
"And the students, they knew that Terry got sick in Thunder Bay, but a lot of the kids didn't realize that he was sick while he was running and stopped only when he was unable to go on," adds Mr. Laing.
Sharing Terry Fox's story, how this young man championed the cause of raising funds for cancer research, so we can each do our part to raise funds and to continue his Marathon of Hope.
For more information on the Terry Fox Run / Walk and to donate towards the Boissevain School efforts, contact the school office, OR visit the Terry Fox Foundation Boissevain Page HERE!