A new documentary hitting theatres October 9 pulls back the statue bronze: Run Terry Run, directed by Sean Menard, draws on 96 reels of never-before-seen footage from Terry Fox's 1980 Marathon of Hope.
Beyond the icon Canadians grew up with, the reels show Fox's humour, his frustrations, his stubbornness — a 22-year-old carrying a country's hopes on one good leg, cracking jokes between the miles.
Every Toronto schoolkid ran a Terry Fox Run. But the documentary's real gift is permission to be more than a symbol — something every young artist from Scarborough to Etobicoke understands. Fox wasn't running to be a statue; he was running to fund the research. The fame was a side effect of the work.
That's the blueprint: do the work so undeniable the country can't look away.
Sources: CBC News. Context from the Young Hadene newsroom.
A documentary by Sean Menard on Terry Fox, built from 96 reels of unseen Marathon of Hope footage.
In theatres October 9.