THUNDER BAY - It's been more than 30 years since Terry Fox embarked on his Marathon of Hope and this year, one man from France plans to complete Fox's run.
Inspired by his hero, Guy Amalfitano, a 54-year-old French marathon runner and Paralympian, is following in Fox’s footsteps by running across Canada on a single leg.
Amalfitano started his journey in St. John’s, Newfoundland on May 14 and plans on finishing Nov. 6 in Vancouver, B.C.
The 7,600 kilometre cross-Canada trek will take him 177 days to complete.
With Cancer taking his right leg at 17, Amalfitano saw Terry Fox on TV and was immediately inspired.
“When I was 17, I was in the hospital with cancer and was asking myself a lot of questions,” Amalfitano said.
“One day I turned on the TV and it was showing a Canadian who was trying to run across Canada and that was Terry Fox.”
When Amalfitano saw Fox it gave him hope and showed him that even with one leg he could still accomplish great things.
“Of all the heroes he stands out to me the most,” he said.
In 2011, Amalfitano completed his first Marathon, 2 L’Espoir, a 4,000 kilometre marathon along the borders of France, which raised 30,000 Euros for cancer research.
He then did a second larger marathon in 2013 raising 55,000 Euros and breaking World Records along the way.
Approaching the stretch where Terry Fox ended his journey Amalfitano speaks to how much it means to be running on the Terry Fox Courage Highway.
“It’s very symbolic,” Amalfitano said. “Up until now I have pretty much followed in his footsteps and now I will finish his journey and finally start another.”
Amalfitano said it’s symbolic in the way that it’s the end of something, but also the beginning of something new.
Amaltifano will arrive in Thunder Bay on Friday.
(TBT News)
