45 years ago today, a young man named Terry Fox began his heroic Marathon of Hope across Canada. In St. John’s, Newfoundland, standing on an artificial leg, he touched his foot into the Atlantic Ocean and began his run hoping to complete a marathon every day until he reached the Pacific coast. WATCH an inspiring video and learn what happened next… (1980)

Statue photo by Dickbauch, CC license; and YouTube

An active teenager, Terry was involved in many sports, but at 18 years old he was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) in his knee and was forced to have his right leg amputated. While in the hospital, Terry was so overcome by the suffering of young child cancer patients that he decided to run across the vast country to raise money for fighting the disease—and it would revolutionize cancer research in Canada.

After 18 months of vigorous training, Terry’s run began with little fanfare and he spent days alone …