The man Terry Fox was named after, Carstairs resident Jay (John) Wark, gave an emotional speech to a crowd of over 600 students and a handful of teachers and school officials last Wednesday in Carstairs before the crowd dispersed on the annual Terry Fox Run.
Nearly 300 Carstairs Elementary students participated in the run around Carstairs Memorial Park, while almost 400 from Hugh Sutherland chose to run either a three- or five-kilometre stretch in honour of Terry Fox's historic cross-Canada run – the Marathon of Hope.
Terry's uncle and aunt, town residents Jay (John) and Darlene Wark, were honoured guests at the morning's events in the park, and shared a few words from Terry to inspire the crowd.
“Terry would be extremely happy to see so many of you of all ages that are here today,” said Jay Wark.
A choked-up Wark shared that Terry's mother Betty (his sister) died in June of this year, and Wark said that speaking about Terry “is kind of an emotional thing.”
“I'm also extremely proud to say that Terrance was named after me,” said Wark, noting that he and Terry share the middle name Stanley.
“Enjoy your run, have fun,” said Wark. “As Terry said, ‘Someday, the hurting will stop.'”
In the last 30 years, over $550 million has been raised worldwide for cancer research in Terry's name.
Because of the research conducted with funds raised by the Terry Fox Foundation, Wark said the cancer that took Terry's life – along with some others – can now be cured, when caught early enough.
“Isn't that something we should be proud of?”
John Goutsis, vice-principal of Hugh Sutherland School, read a brief history of Terry Fox's life to the crowd.
“Terry was so overcome by the suffering of other cancer patients – many of them very young children – that he decided to run across Canada and raise money for cancer research.”
“He ran about 42 kilometres a day. Today we'll be running between three and five kilometres, and I know for the elementary students a little bit less than that,” said Goutsis.
“So you can imagine how far Terry was running each and every day.”
“He is my favourite - and a heroic – Canadian. And he's left a legacy for all of us to remember.”
Goutsis then quoted Fox, “I just wish people would realize that anything is possible if you'll just try. Dreams are possible, so go out, and grab them.”
“This symbolizes what we should be thinking as we run today,” said Goutsis.
The schools said they were very appreciative that the Carstairs town council supported the event by cooking up pancakes for the runners and organizers of the run.
