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In 1980 Canada's economy and political future were both on rocky courses. Never before had Canadians been so cynical and jaded about society. And suddenly, there was this young guy in front of a microphone who was everything you wanted the world to be.
- Douglas Coupland, Terry
In late September each year, Canadians across the country and people around the world1 gather to run, walk, ride and/or roll in memory of Terry Fox. When asked what motivates people to participate, most refer to Terry Fox as a contemporary Canadian hero. In 2006, Maureen Koziel told Toronto Star reporters, "Canadians really need a modern day hero ... He was an ordinary Canadian who did an extraordinary thing" (qtd. in Wilkes). In 2005, Terry Fox became the first Canadian ever featured on a circulating coin. Speaking on the occasion of the coin's introduction, David G. Dingwall, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint, conveys indecision about whether Fox is ordinary or extraordinary:
His achievements are a testament to the belief that ordinary Canadians, armed with courage, conviction, and a dream, can accomplish truly extraordinary things ... In that spirit, the one dollar coin will help us all remember how an extraordinary man came to embody the Canadian spirit, (qtd. in "Royal Canadian")
This quintessential Canadian hero is revered for many reasons and particularly because he appears to be an everyman attempting an exceptional feat. His accomplishment - to run partway across Canada on one prosthetic and one flesh leg - becomes synonymous with what people want to believe are Canadian values of reason, generosity, grit in the face of adversity, and noble independence: in other words, everything Canadians are supposed to want Canada to be.
Whether they witnessed the original run, learned about it in school, participated in a local annual Terry Fox run, saw coverage of the latter, or more recently heard of the return of the restored support van,2 most Canadians are familiar with the story: Terry Fox was a remarkably athletic eighteenyear-old when his leg was amputated fifteen centimetres above the knee after it had been ravaged by cancer (osteogenic sarcoma). About two years later, he embarked on what came to be known as the Marathon of Hope - a run across...