WHERE IMPACT BEGINS
Across Canada, people are turning lived experience, remembrance, gratitude, generosity, and community spirit into action for cancer research.
These stories show the heart of Terry’s mission: patients sharing what research makes possible, survivors transforming their journeys into hope, researchers pursuing better answers, families honouring loved ones, and teams building communities around a shared commitment to change the future of cancer.
EXTRAORDINARY COMMITMENT, LASTING IMPACT
Mary Beck
A long-time member of the Stonewall Terry Fox Run community in Manitoba, Mary has helped support the local Run , volunteered with the Manitoba and Saskatchewan office, supported national volunteer and school programs, fundraised, and even planned her vacation around the 45th anniversary Confederation Bridge Run.
Her story reflects the people behind Terry’s mission: volunteers, fundraisers, organizers, and supporters who give their time, skills, energy, and heart to help fuel cancer research.
Across every role, Mary’s commitment is rooted in the same belief Terry inspired in Canadians 45 years ago: we all have a part to play in changing the future of cancer. Thank You, Mary!
Million Dollar Jim – Jim Terrion,
Prince George, British Columbia
For more than three decades, Jim Terrion has shown what one person’s determination can accomplish.
Born deaf, Jim found inspiration in Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope and has spent every year since 1990 knocking on doors, visiting businesses
TERRY’S TEAM MEMBERS
Terry’s Team Members are people who have experienced a cancer diagnosis and choose to participate in the Terry Fox Run.
Their role is more than symbolic. Through their stories, leadership, fundraising, volunteering, and presence on Run Day, Terry’s Team Members help connect supporters to hope, progress, and research at work.
Brenda Sanderson, Montréal, Quebec
After being diagnosed with Stage IIIA endometrial cancer in 2023, Brenda Sanderson spent much of the following year in surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.
Now rebuilding her running practice, Brenda chose to take part in the Terry Fox Run because of its connection to research. For her, Terry Fox-funded research is deeply personal, especially TFRI’s support for endometrial cancer research and work to better understand cancer subtypes like hers.
Her story shows how Terry’s Team Members connect lived experience to the research working to create better answers for people facing cancer.
Beth England, Southwestern Ontario
Within six weeks, Beth England was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, gave birth to her son, and had her leg amputated below the knee.
When Beth and her family learned about Terry Fox-funded research into the genetic blueprint of synovial sarcoma, they found a new way to fight back: supporting research designed to better understand the disease and open paths to more effective treatment.
Beth’s story connects lived experience, community support, and bold cancer research in one powerful reminder of why progress matters.
Diogo Mello, Toronto, Ontario
After moving to Canada shortly before cancer surgery, Diogo Mello found strength in Terry’s story.
Inspired by Terry’s determination, he travelled to Thunder Bay and later to St. John’s, connecting his own treatment journey to Terry’s Marathon of Hope.
For Diogo, Terry’s mission became a source of energy, resilience, and belief in research helping move better answers closer to patients.
RESEARCHERS CHANGING WHAT’S POSSIBLE
Behind every breakthrough are researchers working to answer some of cancer’s hardest questions.
Across Canada, Terry Fox-funded researchers are advancing precision medicine, building national data systems, studying cancer prevention, and developing new ways to understand and treat disease.
Dr. Teresa Purzner
Using innovative technologies to tackle glioblastoma recurrence
As a neurosurgeon at Queen’s University and Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Dr. Teresa Purzner is developing new tools to better understand why glioblastoma almost always returns after treatment.
Her team has already created an innovative surgical biopsy device, and thanks to Terry Fox funding, will now be able to analyze the high-quality samples collected through this device using advanced molecular profiling and artificial intelligence. Their goal? To reveal how these aggressive brain tumours spread and find new ways to stop this from happening.
“Funding from the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network will allow us to integrate surgical innovation, molecular profiling, and AI, to try to reveal why glioblastomas spread so relentlessly — and find new ways to intervene more effectively,” says Dr Purzner. “If successful, our work could lead to more personalized brain tumour treatments, improving surgical precision and guiding post-operative care.”
Dr. Michele Ardolino
Pushing cancer science beyond conventional boundaries
Dr. Michele Ardolino is a Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grant lead investigator and senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.
His work represents the kind of collaborative, boundary-pushing research Terry Fox funding is designed to support: innovative science aimed at opening new ways to understand and treat cancer.
By studying how the immune system, nervous system, and gut microbiome work together, Dr. Ardolino and his team are exploring new ways to help more patients benefit from immunotherapy.
Dr. Alberto Martin
Expanding research into cancer prevention
Dr. Alberto Martin leads a Terry Fox-funded Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention Team Grant.
His work explores how diet and gut bacteria influence colorectal cancer with the aim of identifying dietary fibres that could reduce risk.
This research reflects a growing priority for TFRI: expanding its research portfolio to include cancer prevention, with the goal of stopping more cancers before they start.
PARTNERS IN ACTION
Partnerships help Terry’s mission reach further.
Through matching gifts, national campaigns, employee engagement, retail moments, and community participation, corporate partners help turn shared values into momentum for cancer research.
These partnerships do more than raise funds. They introduce Terry’s story to new audiences, inspire people to act, and strengthen the research ecosystem Terry believed could change the future of cancer.
PharmaChoice Canada
In its second year of partnership, PharmaChoice Canada helped spark national momentum during the 45th anniversary year.
Through its network of pharmacies in communities across the country, PharmaChoice helped bring Terry’s mission into local communities, inviting customers, members, and pharmacy teams to take action for cancer research.
Matching gifts, in-store promotion, member engagement, and pharmacy team participation helped more Canadians connect with Terry’s story while strengthening support for bold cancer research.
The partnership shows how national reach and local trust can work together to mobilize communities, increase participation, and help accelerate the research Terry believed could change the future of cancer.
Four Seasons
Four Seasons has been connected to Terry’s mission since the Marathon of Hope, and is a founding relationship still inspiring action.
In 1980, Four Seasons founder Isadore Sharp was moved by Terry’s determination and stepped forward with personal and corporate support, helping inspire others to give. When Terry was forced to stop running, Isadore promised there would be an annual run in Terry’s name to continue the fight against cancer.
That promise helped shape what became the Terry Fox Run.
Today, Four Seasons teams continue to honour Terry’s legacy through events and community engagement around the world. From the long-standing Wilket Creek Run in Toronto to the growing Silicon Valley Terry Fox event, Four Seasons helps bring people together in support of cancer research, carrying a relationship rooted in history into new communities and new generations.
adidas Canada
A symbol from Terry’s Marathon of Hope, brought forward for a new generation.
Before Terry Fox began his Marathon of Hope, he wrote to adidas Canada asking for running shoes to support his journey. Adidas responded with the Orion shoes Terry would wear as he ran across Canada to raise money for cancer research.
In 2005, 2020 and again in 2025, adidas re-released the iconic Terry Fox Orion shoe, reconnecting Canadians with one of the most recognizable symbols of Terry’s journey.
Through the Orion re-release, adidas retail support, and the broader Finish It collection, Canadians had new ways to engage with Terry’s story, show their support, and help fund bold cancer research.
FAMILIES AND TEAMS
Love, remembrance, and action.
For many Terry Fox supporters, fundraising begins with someone they love.
Families, friends, teammates, coworkers, and communities come together to honour people affected by cancer, creating traditions rooted in memory, hope, and a shared commitment to help change the future for others.
These stories show how personal reasons become collective action, helping fuel bold cancer research year after year.
Weightman’s Warriors
Before David Weightman died from brain cancer, he asked his wife Sara to take part in the Terry Fox Run in his memory and raise as much as she could for cancer research, so other families would not have to experience what theirs had endured.
In 2024, Sara joined her first Terry Fox Run with family, friends, David’s soccer teammates, coworkers, and more. Together, Weightman’s Warriors surpassed their goal and became one of the top fundraising teams in Edmonton.
Their story shows how one promise can become a powerful act of love, remembrance, and hope for future families.
In Memory of Glenn Svarich
When Glenn Svarich was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, he talked for months about wanting to take part in a cancer research walk.
By the time the event came, Glenn was too ill to participate. After he died in 2025, his family chose to walk for him and raise funds to fight the disease which took his life.
Their story honours Glenn’s sense of purpose and reminds us how families can turn loss into action for cancer research.
Team O’Donnell
For the O’Donnell family, the Terry Fox Run has been part of family life for years.
Tara and her husband Todd have participated many times, and when they had children, their boys joined too. After Tara faced cancer twice in 10 years, the Run became even more meaningful for their family.
Their story reflects the power of a tradition passed from one generation to the next, and the gratitude many families feel for the research Terry helped inspire.
Hopalong Gang
For 19 years, the Hopalong Gang has participated in the Terry Fox Run at High Park.
In 2025, after long-time team captain Sharon passed away, her partner planned a celebration of life on Run Day. The team came together to participate, remember, and honour her legacy.
Their story shows how teams can become communities of care, turning grief, love, and remembrance into lasting support for cancer research.
Team Tanya
Lori formed Team Tanya in Calgary to honour her dear friend Tanya, who died from breast cancer at age 42.
Tanya had first faced cancer as a teenager, when she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at 15 and received the first femur transplant in Western Canada.
Ten years after Tanya’s passing, 15 teammates came together for their first Terry Fox Run as Team Tanya, raising more than $14,000 for cancer research.
Their story shows how love and remembrance can inspire new people to act, helping fund research for the families who will face cancer next.
Team Douglas
Every year, Andrew Douglas carries a canoe during the Terry Fox Run.
For Andrew, surviving cancer was like completing a gruelling wilderness portage, one difficult step at a time. The canoe reminds him of the journey he overcame, and why he continues to raise money for cancer research, helping fuel the discoveries that give more people the chance to reach the other side of cancer.
After 19 years, Team Douglas has raised more than $100,000 for cancer research.