Jim Terrion Jr. always felt a close connection to Terry Fox. The Prince Rupert native was only three years younger than the Port Coquitlam athlete when he saw Fox on TV during his 1980 Marathon of Hope to raise money for cancer research.
Terrion marvelled at Fox's achievement of running a marathon a day for 143 consecutive days with a prosthetic leg.
He could also relate to Fox's battle as he, too, had a disability: He has been deaf since birth.
"Jim was so impressed with Terry," Terrion's mother, Faye, recalled. "He was just amazed that Terry could do this on one leg."
Fox's crusade inspired Terrion to walk. And walk.
Sometimes, he trekked from Jericho Hill School for the Deaf in Vancouver, where he had been a student since the age of 12, to Seattle and back on foot. In 1990, at the age of 29, Terrion set off on his own cross-country adventure to collect cash and build awareness for the deaf and hearing impaired; in one day, he walked 100 km - until his driver said "enough," Faye Terrion said. Her son also hiked from Edmonton to Rupert during a snowstorm in November.
Walking "is nothing for him," she said from her Prince George home, adding Jim can hear sounds but not speech.
For the past 21 years, Jim Terrion, now a P.G. resident, has stayed true to Fox's vision, not missing out on a single annual Fox Run. And this year, he and Faye will be in his hero's hometown to pay tribute.
He'll probably bring a chunk of change with him as well.
Donna White, the BC/Yukon director for the Terry Fox Foundation in PoCo, said last year, Terrion turned in 71 fully signed pledge sheets, taking his total to $504,000.
And he won't stop until he reaches his target of $1 million "and he'll do it, I'm sure," Faye Terrion said confidently.
His donations are largely due to the generosity of Prince Rupert residents and business people. During his summer holidays, Jim Terrion returns to the northern B.C. community to knock on every door in the day and solicit pub patrons at night. Five years ago, his fundraising efforts were recognized by then-premier Gordon Campbell, who bestowed Terrion with a BC Community Achievement Award.
This year's campaign is different, though. In a recent letter to The Northern View, a Black Press sister newspaper of The Tri-City News, Terrion, 50, told Rupert readers he'll be honouring the late Betty Fox as he collects their coins.
Faye Terrion believes her son will probably exceed his average of $20,000 for this year's drive (one year, he brought in a record $47,000 from Rupert).
"The people know him because he was born there and he grew up there," she said. "They don't have trouble communicating with him because they all know him. They wait for him to come."
His accommodations during his three-week run are free at the Crest Hotel.
"Jim is an incredible individual who has devoted numerous hours of his time in support of his goal," the hotel's general manager, Scott Farwell, said. "We recognize his commitment and are pleased to help support him. Prince Rupert, British Columbia and the world are a better place because of individuals like Terry Fox and Jim Terrion."
As for his future, Jim Terrion told The View he wants to travel to help spread Fox's dream to ending cancer. "I might be planning to go to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the Terry Fox Run," he wrote. "I'm not sure, but it would probably be in November 2013 or 2014."
