Port Moody-Coquitlam MLA Linda Reimer will introduce a Private Member's Bill in the legislature next Thursday, Oct. 23 to make the second Sunday following Labour Day each September "Terry Fox Day".
Reimer made the announcement at Terry Fox secondary school Friday morning before a crowd of students and friends and family of the Port Coquitlam hometown hero.
The day coincides with Terry Fox Runs that raise millions for cancer research.
Fred Fox, Terry's brother, who was among the dignitaries at the event said Fox himself chose September as the month for taking action to end cancer because it was on Sept. 1, 1980 that he had to cut his own cross-country run short because his cancer had returned. At the time, he hoped others would carry on the torch, Fox said.
"Terry Fox Day will be... a day full of hope," Fox said.
Reimer said she has been working with the Fox family and the co-chair of Coquitlam's Terry Fox run, Mark Pettie, on the idea for several months and welcomes the opportunity to make a difference in support of the fight against cancer and the "strides we are making to save many lives."
Terry Fox, is a hero, for starting his Marathon of Hope, Reimer said, and she added that she remembers seeing him training at Simon Fraser University when she was a student there.
Among the dignitaries attending the event were Darrell Fox, also a brother of Terry Fox, and Terry's pal Doug Alward, who drove Fox's support van during his Marathon of Hope.
