The Hindu : National : Anniversary of Terry Fox Run to help cancer research on March 2

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 29, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

National

National

Anniversary of Terry Fox Run to help cancer research on March 2

Special Correspondent

MUMBAI: Leander Paes considers the Terry Fox Run a journey of life.

Considered the largest single-day fund-raiser for cancer research in the world, the 10th anniversary of the event in Mumbai will be celebrated on March 2. People come together as individuals, families, schoolchildren and groups to raise money in Terry Fox’s name.

“Being a former cancer patient (Leander was diagnosed with a parasitic infection in the head and admitted to M.D. Anderson Cancer Centre, Orlando, in 2003) I feel for his brave effort. We are many miles away from Canada, but I am happy at the efforts put in by the Terry Fox (India) Committee and support group,” said the tennis ace, now looking forward to partnering Aussie Paul Hanley in the Dubai Open next month.

Diagnosed with bone cancer at 18, Canadian-born Terry decided to run across the nation to generate funds for cancer research, calling his journey the ‘Marathon of Hope’.

After running 143 days and covering 5,373 km, he was forced to stop as cancer affected the lungs and he passed away on June 28, 1981.

Committee’s target

The Terry Fox (India) Committee is targeting Rs.50 lakh in 2008 via sponsors and participants. M.K. Tata Trust, Birla Sunlife are the main sponsors, apart from Oberoi Hotel, Consulate General of Canada and Canadian law firm Stikeman Elliott LLP. The money will be handed over to the Tata Cancer Hospital (Mumbai) for research on cancer affecting children.

The Indian doubles specialist, talked about his own experiences in the cancer ward at Anderson Centre, specifically watching cancer-affected children come to terms with the disease and effects of treatment.

“I used to walk around the ward, it was difficult to get sleep. There was a children’s ward nearby. You have to understand that it is hardest for children to accept what is happening to them, a lot of tubes attached to their body, hair lashes and then hair falling off,” recalled Leander, noting the organisers’ success in getting schoolchildren involved with the Terry Fox Run.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National