Terry Fox was 21 years old when he wrote the letter that started the Marathon of Hope. Fred Fox says cancer had already changed his brother completely by then.

Before his diagnosis at 18, Fred Fox says he would not have described Terry the way the letter reads. Chemo and watching others go through it shifted something. Everything Terry did after was about other people. When their mom called the idea of running across the country crazy, Terry told her simply that people across Canada get cancer too. She never pushed back again.

The Terry Fox Foundation is now past a billion dollars raised. Fred Fox has taken the message to Mumbai, Belgium, Ireland, Wales, and small Manitoba farming towns that Terry never reached. He says nothing surprises him anymore about where the marathon has gone.

Topics: Marathon of Hope, Terry Fox, Fred Fox, Terry Fox Foundation, cancer fundraising Canada

GUEST: Fred Fox | terryfox.org

Originally aired on2026-04-30