Parksville cancer survivor to complete her 40th Terry Fox Run

CHEK News
WatchA Parksville cancer survivor is urging people to run their own Terry Fox Run this weekend, just as she will be, since Covid-19 has forced large organized group runs to be cancelled this year. This will be Linda Wray's 40th Terry Fox run and as Skye Ryan reports, she has a deep connection to it.

Linda Wray is ready for an incredible run to keep Terry Fox’s memory alive.

The Parksville grandmother, now 67, was a young newlywed when she began running.

“He was my hero in my heart because of his determination and the age that he was when he passed away,” said Linda.

“It’s her passion,” said Linda’s husband, Gene Wray. “Terry Fox is her passion. I always say good people do great things. Terry Fox was a good person, he did great things. And that’s her.”

Linda said was first inspired by Fox when she saw the brave B.C. boy running a marathon a day across Canada.

“I’m emotional when I talk about it because I know how hard it was for him so there’s no reason why any of us can’t do it once a year,” said Linda.

The 2020 Terry Fox Run on Sunday, which will be run virtually this year, will be the Parksville woman’s 40th run.

“I probably raise five, six, 700 dollars a year so over 40 years that’s a lot of money,” she said.

It’s become personal over that long run that’s now turned into a walk. Linda lost her own mother to cancer and was diagnosed herself. But she never missed a fundraising run in 40 years.

“And every time it didn’t matter how painful I was,” said Linda.

“I was out there on that day or that weekend.”

COVID-19 stands in the way of large runs with people gathering, like in previous years. But Linda hopes people will still run the Terry Fox Run Sunday to raise money for cancer research.

Tune into CHEK News from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. tonight for the Terry Fox Mini-Telethon, hosted by Veronica Cooper and Kevin Charach as part of The Upside. You watch online on our live newscast page. 

Skye RyanSkye Ryan

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