A friend of mine is helping run our local Terry Fox Run/Walk/Wheel.  I met her last night to give her a donation for the silent auction and she told me a story.

Each year, they have someone speak at their event who has been helped by cancer research.  For many years, the speaker for their event has been a girl named Erica Scarff. She was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, the same cancer as Terry Fox, at the age of 12.  She underwent chemotherapy and had to have her leg amputated.  She has now been in remission for seven years and is a 19-year-old university student studying Kinesiology.  
The first time she spoke at the walk she was in a wheelchair.  The next time she was on crutches. And this year she won’t be able to make the event.
Because she is competing at the Paralympic Games in Rio in the Paracanoe competition!
She is alive because of the run that Terry Fox started.
Terry Fox is one of my all-time heroes.  He started a journey when no one was watching. Sleeping at the side of the road in a van.  Now he has been gone longer than he was here and people are still walking and running in his name.  In countries around the globe.
He turned his tragedy into hope and he changed the world.
Terry said, “When I started this run, I said that if we all gave one dollar, we’d have $22 million for cancer research, and I don’t care man, there’s no reason that isn’t possible.  No reason!”
To date, the Terry Fox Foundation has raised over $650 million.
Thank you Terry, for showing us that everyday folks can be heroes.  And good luck to Erica as she represents Canada at the Paralympic Games.