Who is Terry?
Visitors are greeted by a large-scale image of their smiling host – Terry Fox. His youthful face captures his energy, positive outlook and determination. Terry Fox is a Canadian icon. But who is Terry the person? He came from an “ordinary Canadian family” and was a determined young athlete. A timeline explores his life from before the Marathon of Hope, his cancer diagnosis and treatment, as well as the end of his life.
Visitors explore an exhibit case displaying memorabilia from Terry’s childhood and perhaps a reproduction of the article that inspired Terry to consider running after his amputation.
Terry’s Run
Many Canadians can close their eyes and picture TV images of Terry running with a police escort and van in the background. They can probably almost hear the sound of his cadence as he ran—hop, skip, throw, land.
This exhibit recreates that experience and let’s visitors put themselves in the story. Visitors watch a projection of Terry running across the country, from Atlantic Canada to Ontario. Some visitors may be able to pick out their home community as he passes through. Behind Terry is the iconic Ford camper van that friend Doug and brother Darrell drove behind him during the journey.
Marathon of Hope
As visitors continue on the curved path they encounter a large-scale timeline of Terry’s Marathon of Hope, which might include inset images, video, letters written to Terry, gifts sent to him, and other memorabilia like Terry’s socks, prosthetic leg, t-shirts and shoes. As they explore the area, a determined Terry continues to run behind them.
In an alcove, a group of visitors can gather and sit on a bench to explore more details of Terry’s Marathon of Hope in a multimedia database, including news coverage of the run across the country, speeches Terry gave along the way and special events like meeting Bobby Orr and Darryl Sitter.
Terry Inspired Millions/
The Marathon Continues
Terry’s story didn’t end with his death—his dream lived on. In this exhibit area visitors explore the impact of Terry’s run and consider all those that he inspired: athletes, amputees, cancer patients and survivors, researchers, doctors and all Canadians who watched his journey.
Terry galvanized us to continue his fight by raising money for cancer research to find a cure. Visitors are inspired to set their own goals; whether it is for personal achievement or to raise money for cancer research.
I’ve said to people before that I am going to do my best to make it, I am not going to give up. - Terry Fox
