By the end of his first year on the team, Terry had begun to experience excruciating pain in his right knee. He put it off to the pain that all athletes feel at one time or another – a pulled cartilage. Then, one morning when he attempted to get out of bed, he realized his knee wouldn’t support him. Now, he began to worry. What could be wrong?
A week later, Terry found out. His doctors diagnosed him as having osteogenic sarcoma, a type of bone cancer. They told Terry that the tumor was malignant and that his leg would have to be amputated. The night before his surgery, Terry read an article in a magazine about an amputee runner. He decided that he would run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. His journey would be called “The Marathon of Hope.” Terry had always been a determined lad. When his mother heard of his plans she asked him if he was crazy. His father, knowing the grit within his son asked, “When?”
After he recuperated, Terry began to train for his run. His body needed to be strengthened and he had to learn to walk again. His biggest challenge was learning how to run on one artificial and one good leg. His run was a double-step, hop but he managed to make the most of the situation.
Two years after his leg was amputated, Terry began to run. At first he ran at night so he wouldn’t be seen. Later, he became more confident. Terry trained for fifteen months, many times running until his stump was raw. He was determined to realize his dream. Terry ran over 3,000 miles during his training.
On October 15, 1979 Terry wrote to the Canadian Cancer Society asking them to support his run. The administrators were skeptical. They asked him to provide corporate sponsors to show his sincerity. They never expected to hear from him again but Terry persevered and earned sponsors. The Cancer Society then promised to support his Marathon of Hope.
On April 12, 1980 Terry dipped his artificial leg into the Atlantic Ocean at St. John’s Newfoundland, which is Canada’s most eastern point. It was here that his famous trek began. He ran an average of 26 miles a day across six provinces.
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