Images and memorabilia from Port Coquitlam hero Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope will go on display in the provincial capital in April.
Terry Fox: Running to the Heart of Canada opens April 12 — 37 years to the day Fox dipped his prosthetic leg into the Atlantic Ocean to begin his historic fundraising drive for cancer research.
The touring exhibition at the Royal BC Museum, which ends Oct. 1, started its journey in 2015 at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., to mark the 35th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope.
It includes artifacts, photographs, interviews, press clippings and Fox's journal entries allow visitors to retrace his 143-day, 5,300-km journey from St. John’s, NL, to Thunder Bay, Ont., in 1980.
As well, the Victoria show will also include Fox's Ford E250 Econoline van, which he, his friend Doug Alward and Darrell Fox used on the road.
"Terry Fox lives in the hearts and minds of many people in Canada and indeed around the world," said Jack Lohman, CEO of the Royal BC Museum, in a news release on Monday. "These very personal items will evoke much emotion and respect, inspiring all of us and the good work that flows from it."
The display was developed in partnership with the Terry Fox Foundation, which has its base at SFU on nearby Burnaby Mountain. A smaller version of the exhibit will go up in Port Coquitlam from Sept. 1 to Nov. 28.
Since Gatineau, the exhibit has been featured at Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in Calgary, at the Peel Art Gallery in Brampton and at the Dufferin County Museum in Mulmur. It will travel to The Pas later this year and the Peterborough Museum next fall.
Meanwhile, the Royal BC Museum has also included a complementary exhibit called Family: Bonds and Belonging that pays tribute to Fox's family, which has carried on the hero's legacy by raising more than $700 million to fight cancer. This show goes from June 2 to Oct. 31 and explores the concept of family.
• To share your memories of Terry Fox and comments about the touring exhibit, use the Royal BC Museum Twitter hashtags #RBCMTerryFox or #RBCMFamily.
