Bill Vigars' message to the students of Terry Fox secondary school was a simple one: "You are no different than Terry Fox."
Vigars, Fox's public relations co-ordinator more than 30 years ago during the Marathon of Hope, spoke to a full gymnasium of students regarding their school's namesake at the annual assembly last Friday. "He was a pretty cool kid, and that's what he was, he was just a kid," Vigars said. "He inspired a nation back then, he inspires the world today."
He reminded the students that regular kids can achieve great things, and shared humorous stories from the run in 1980, revealing a human side to Fox. Vigars recalled multiple food fights, the bad smells that emanated from the van lived in by Terry, his brother Darrell and friend Doug Alward, and the time Terry put a plate of chop suey down Darrell's shorts. "This was not a rare occasion, this happened a lot.
"Terry was just a regular guy. He was just like any one of you in this room. He was not special, he was not a brilliant guy, he was just a guy who tried and tried, and tried harder - a guy who would not give up"
Terryn Legge, a Terry Fox student with ataxia (a nervous system disorder that affects co-ordination), also addressed the crowd. She spoke about her experiences with the disease and encouraged her fellow students to never give up on their dreams.
