How many people can remember which month is anointed for Breast Cancer research? Now how many can remember which day Terry Fox Day is on? It is something that has been slipping from the Canadian view for the past few years. Cancer research today would not be where it is today, if not for Terry Fox. He, almost single handed, launched Cancer research and awareness in Canada, and across the world. He took up the mantle and decided something had to be done. It started with a simple
statement and a simple idea. If everyone in Canada gave just one dollar, the cure for cancer could easily be found.
This was in a time when AIDS was still a spectre on the horizon, Cancer was still being treated with amputations and a full dose of chemo therapy; radiation therapy was hitting a problem with a large club, rather than the surgical precision that it is today. The survival rates were smaller and shorter. It was a scary thing to deal with and a scary thing to go through.
Through all of these life changing moments. Terry found a purpose. He didn't want anyone else to have to go through the personal hell that he had experienced. He took it upon himself to train, to condition himself to run across Canada.
He started off relatively unknown in St.Johns Newfoundland. He dipped his foot into the Atlantic Ocean, and then started down the road to the Pacific. With twenty four million people residing in Canada, he had the lofty goal of twenty-four million dollars. Before he stopped in Thunder Bay, he had raised twenty seven million dollars. He achieved part of his goal, and raised one dollar for every person living in Canada, and more.
Terry ran during the summer, on one leg, across Canada, until his cancer finally caught up with him. He had gained international celebrity, and became an inspiration to people world wide. His guts, heart and determination was relentless. He was also a type of hero that not many people had experience before. He was rude, rough, and cursed a blue streak. He didn't care about the media. He was running to get donations. It wasn't until the advice and hard work of his brother and father that his journey was finally noticed. He wasn't doing it to be famous. He was doing it because he felt he had to.
Terry's work laid the foundation for what Cancer research is today. Terry Fox day was held around the word, and on his shoulders, millions more has been poured into cancer research and treatment. Survival rates are high, and treatment isn't as brutal as it used to be. There isn't someone in Canada today that doesn't know someone who's been affected by cancer, or been afflicted themselves. A lot of those people are still around today, because of the work Terry has done.
Check your calenders, and remember the day. It is slowly losing the light that it once basked in.
This was a great shoot. Scarlet assisted me and it was a boon to have her around. This was a shoot for a play that is due to come out soon. It is also a shoot where I kept the rights to my pictures, so I can post em. Scarlet did some colour shots (the initial proposal was for black & whites.) So, we kicked the silver reflector over to gold and went to work again. If you haven't seen or heard of Scarlets work, then shame on you, check the links you lazy bastards!
Chris and Alex were great to work with. This was my first time doing something intimate, and I was a little weary on how to handle it. I wanted to keep everyone laughing and loose, we were all laughing most of the time. It was a terrible amount of fun. As Don Cherry said: "Loosey Goosey and the brain does the work."
