THUNDER BAY — Helene Neville intends to complete the Marathon of Hope started by Terry Fox in 1980 this spring at the age of 64.
Terry Fox embarked on a cross-Canada run, organized to raise money and awareness for cancer research. When cancer spread to his lungs just outside of Thunder Bay, Fox had to stop the run.
Neville, from Philadelphia, Penn., started running at the Terry Fox Lookout on Thursday, with intentions to complete the Marathon of Hope.
“This has been a long time in the making. I actually ran track in high school when I learned of Terry Fox,” Neville said.
“I was diagnosed with stage four cancer that had already metastasized to the liver, everywhere pretty much. It's been my dream to get well, I'm in remission, and then to finish the run for him, carry the torch, 45 years later.”
Neville plans to run for 109 days, ending the journey of 2,000 miles when she turns 65.
“I had three brain surgeries in the '90s and stage one cancer, but . . . we still can lead by example on how we handle or navigate through an illness," she said.
“The one message of (Fox) was, he watched the pediatric patients and that resonated with him and touched his heart, same with me as a nurse, and then I found myself on the other side of the bed as the patient. He was on my mind all the time, mostly that he had a mission to spread hope."
“You can have hope all you want but you have to have action behind it, which is what he did,” she said
Neville said there is more kindness than not, and more love than hate in the world.
“I started running the longer distance from California to Florida. I just ran across Puerto Rico in November,” she said.
Neville is confident in her abilities of completing the journey. To follow along with her, visit the website or Facebook page.
