 The "other Terry Fox" traveled a hard road | | | Today marks the 43rd anniversary of the start of Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope. On April 12, 1980, the 21-year-old Canadian dipped his prosthetic right leg into the Atlantic Ocean near St. John's, Newfoundland and headed west, determined to run the entire 8,000 or so kilometres to the shores of Victoria, B.C., to raise money for cancer research.
Fox never made it to the Pacific. After running the equivalent of close to a marathon a day for 143 straight days, his journey ended at about the 5,400-km mark, near Thunder Bay, Ont., when the cancer that had cost him his leg was found to have spread to his lungs. He died 10 months later. But his unfathomable courage and determination live on in Canadian lore, and more than $800 million has been raised for cancer research in his name through the annual Terry Fox Run.
Everybody in Canada has heard that story. But did you know that, just a few years after Fox's Marathon of Hope, another young Canadian who'd lost a leg to cancer also set out to run across the country to raise money for cancer research — and made it all the way?
Steve Fonyo lost his left leg to cancer when he was 12. At 19, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada after completing his 425-day, coast-to-coast run by dunking his prosthetic into the Pacific Ocean in May 1985. In the process, he raised millions of dollars for cancer research.
So, how come everyone knows the Terry Fox story, and yet so few have heard of Steve Fonyo?
Like the man himself, it's complicated. One reason for Fonyo's relative obscurity is that, even at the time of his journey, he just didn't resonate with Canadians like Fox did. In contrast to his humble-seeming predecessor, Fonyo came across to some as self-aggrandizing. Plus, the feeling was, didn't Fox just try this? The lack of originality to Fonyo's quest may have hurt him too.
There was also something a bit uncomfortable about Fonyo trying to complete Fox's abandoned journey (some might even say one-up him) so soon after his death. Everyone accepted the premise that, if not for his cancer returning, Fox would have made it to Victoria. Now here was Fonyo, potentially jeopardizing the legacy of one of the most beloved Canadians of all time by doing what Fox surely would have if not for a cruel twist of fate. Also, from a pure athletic standpoint, Fox was literally twice as fast. He averaged about 38 km a day during the Marathon of Hope, compared to 19 km per day for Fonyo on his (somewhat derivatively named) Journey for Lives.
Let's be clear: any reasonable person should respect Fonyo for completing that punishing coast-to-coast trek on one leg and raising all that money for cancer research. But anyone with doubts about him could find something to grab onto. And, in the decades following his run, Fonyo made it too easy for the doubters to dismiss his incredible accomplishment.
In 1996, Fonyo pleaded guilty in Edmonton to more than a dozen charges, including assault with a weapon, possession of a stolen vehicle and fraud. As told in court, he wrote more than $10,000 worth of fake cheques to supermarkets to buy cigarettes, which he traded for cocaine. By 2009, he'd been convicted several times for drunk driving and served jail time. Late that year, the governor general's office made the rare decision to strip Fonyo of his Order of Canada because of his repeated criminal offences.
Fonyo's troubles continued in 2015 when, according to police, he was stabbed and beaten by three attackers who invaded his home in Surrey, B.C. He suffered brain damage from a head injury and spent a month in a medically induced coma.
A documentary on Fonyo released that year called Hurt portrays a man trying to rebuild his life from the ruins of cocaine and alcohol addictions. Family and friends said he was doing better. Then, last year, Fonyo was in Vancouver to get the foot on his artificial leg repaired when his partner returned to their hotel room to find him experiencing an apparent seizure. Paramedics tried to revive him, but Fonyo died. He was 56.
It's easy to see Steve Fonyo as a flawed version of Terry Fox. But he was his own man, with his own hopes and dreams. And his own demons. In the end, he just couldn't outrun them. | | |  | | | Quickly… | | | A few more things to know about:
1. It's a big night for Canadian basketball.
Canada's only NBA team and Canada's best NBA player each face a do-or-die scenario tonight in the league's play-in tournament.
At 7 p.m. ET, the Toronto Raptors host the Chicago Bulls for the right to meet the Miami Heat on Friday night for a spot in the playoffs. Miami's loss to Atlanta in last night's play-in opener gave the Hawks the Eastern Conference's No. 7 seed in the main playoff bracket, where they'll face Boston in a seven-game series. The winner of Friday's game between Miami and Toronto/Chicago gets the No. 8 seed and a matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks, who finished with the NBA's best record. Read more about tonight's Chicago-Toronto game here.
At 9:30 p.m. ET, Canadian star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder visit the New Orleans Pelicans for a Western Conference play-in game. The 24-year-old guard is coming off a breakthrough regular season where he averaged 31.4 points — fourth-most in the NBA. SGA's Canadian teammate Lu Dort chipped in close to 14 points and his trademark fierce perimeter defence for OKC, which improved by 16 wins over last year.
If the Thunder get past a New Orleans team that's missing injured star Zion Williamson, they'll face Minnesota on Friday night for a playoff spot. The Timberwolves had LeBron James and the heavily favoured Lakers on the ropes last night before losing in overtime. Los Angeles will face No. 2 seed Memphis in the first round of the playoffs. The winner of Friday's Minnesota vs. Oklahoma City/New Orleans game gets a series vs. top seed Denver, featuring two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and Canadian guard Jamal Murray.
2. Canada will face Sweden in the playoffs at the women's hockey world championship.
Monday night's thrilling shootout victory over the rival United States gave the defending-champion Canadians top spot in Group A. They'll now face Sweden, the third-place finisher in Group B, in the quarter-finals on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET in Brampton, Ont.
The U.S. will play Germany in a battle of second-place teams, while Group B winner Finland meets the Czech Republic, the third-place finisher in Group A. Switzerland and Japan, the fourth- and fifth-place finishes in Group A, square off in the other matchup. The winners will be reseeded for Saturday's semifinals. The medal games are on Sunday, when Canada and the U.S. are expected to play for gold for the 27th time in 29 women's world-championship and Olympic tournaments.
3. A depleted Canadian women's soccer team lost a World Cup tuneup vs. France.
With Kadeisha Buchanan, Janine Beckie, Deanne Rose, Nichelle Prince, Desiree Scott and Quinn out with injures and Shelina Zadorsky recovering from illness, a total of 759 matches of international experience were missing from Canada's lineup for yesterday's 2-1 defeat in Le Mans. Jordyn Huitema scored Canada's lone goal, in the 71st minute.
The match vs. France, ranked fifth in the world, was one of the few remaining chances for sixth-ranked Canada to sharpen itself for this summer's Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The only remaining international window comes right before the tournament kicks off on July 20. Canada is expected to play two closed-door matches in Australia then.
Beckie will miss the World Cup following knee surgery, but the Canadians hope to get Rose and Prince back from Achilles injuries and Scott back from knee surgery. The others who sat out yesterday should be available for the World Cup, where Canada will face 10th-ranked Australia, No. 22 Ireland and No. 42 Nigeria in the group stage. | | | And finally… | | | With three days left in the NHL regular season, the playoff picture is taking shape.
Fifteen of the 16 entries for the Stanley Cup playoffs are now accounted for after Winnipeg clinched the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference last night by defeating Minnesota. One Eastern wild card is still up for grabs as the Islanders lead Pittsburgh by one point with one game left for each team. New York can clinch with a win or a non-regulation loss tonight at home vs. Montreal.
Meanwhile, Edmonton remains in contention for both the Pacific Division title and the top seed in the West after keeping pace with Vegas with last night's overtime win at defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado. The Oilers' season finale is Thursday night at home vs. lowly San Jose.
The only locked-in first-round matchup is Toronto vs. Tampa Bay. The winner of that series faces a likely second-round meeting with Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston, which last night broke the 1976-77 Canadiens' record for most points in a season by getting to 133 with one game still to play. Read about how the Bruins racked up their record-setting total here. | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
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