Reflecting on meeting Terry Fox in Newfoundland, 35 years later

It was 35 years ago Sunday that a young man named Terry Fox from British Columbia began what was meant to be a cross-country trek to raise money for cancer research.

Fox's Marathon of Hope began in Newfoundland, taking him across the province.

• Terry Fox's family marks 35th anniversary with visit to Outer Cove
• Terry Fox's brother sets big goal for run's 35th anniversary

Educator Darryl Kelly of Deer Lake shared his story of meeting the man who made such a tremendous impact on the entire country.

Read Kelly's story, which he posted to the CBC Newfoundland and Labrador's Facebook page, below.

I met Terry when I was principal of Howley Elementary.

It was approximately 4:30 in the afternoon on a cool spring day in 1980 and the teachers had gone for the day. I was in my office working away at the paper work that needed to be done.

I was not only the principal, but I had to teach all subjects — except French — to over 30 students in grades seven and eight. The busy work of the school administrator with no time to do the paper work was left until the students had departed for the day.

On that day I could hear a different sound of footsteps on those beautifully maintained hardwood floors.

It reminded me of my own school days when Mr. Fred Legge was janitor. Somebody walking with an artificial limb makes a different sound on those floors.

My office door was open and two young men approximately my age were at the doorway. One young man introduced himself as Terry Fox and said his friend was Doug Alward. Terry said he was running across Canada to raise money to find a cure for cancer.

He had finished for the day on the Trans-Canada and saw that Howley was only a short distance so decided to go there hoping to get a shower. I told him that as it was a small school we had no showers in the school but he was welcome to come home with me, but unfortunately we didn't have a shower either. I paused and looked at his face that appeared surprised with that comment. I then told him that we did have a hot bath. I was staying in the school board apartment at that time and it was an old company house for staff who worked for them.

Terry and Doug followed me to my residence. We entered the house together and I informed my wife Christine that we had company for supper and they were here to have a bath.

On reflection, this was probably not a smart thing to do being married for only a couple of years. My wife loved surprises, but this one took the cake.

She was a little embarrassed and said, "But I only have hot dogs for supper." Terry being the person he was jumped in and said not to worry because he would love to have a hot dog.

We also opened a bottle of wild Newfoundland Atlantic salmon that came from Sop's Arm in White Bay and I teased him and said he would find it much better than that old Pacific stuff.

Both Terry and Doug had supper and he played with my little toddler Wendy (Sutton) for a while.

He asked if he could use the phone to call his mom in British Columbia. I said, "Sure b'y go for it."

The phone was on the wall in the kitchen and I could hear him talking to his mom and you could tell she was worried like any mom would be. He would say, "But mom I am OK, please don't worry, I have to do this and things are going great. The people of Newfoundland are really nice to me."

Who wouldn't worry if your son had a leg removed for cancer and the size of the challenge he had embarked upon?

The van Terry was using was parked near the teacher residence where Uncle Harold Kelly and Audrey Woolridge lived.

Just as we were finishing our supper Uncle Harold dropped over to my place to meet Terry and Doug. He knew what Terry was doing because he heard it from the media.

He told Terry about the personal experiences his family had encountered with the dreaded disease and gave Terry a twenty dollar donation.

Bill Byrne, my stepfather and best friend, also stopped in to see Terry. He told Terry he was amazed with what he was doing and that he personally didn't have nerve to drive across Canada alone run across it.

The youth of the community were involved in 4-H at that time and I was a leader and they were having a general meeting at the school at 7 p.m.

I contacted Shirley Lane who was in charge of the organization to make arrangements for Terry to speak at the meeting.

There were many members and leaders at the school that night. Terry spoke to the gathering about the reasons for the marathon and how a teacher who gave him a book on a marathon runner had been the inspiration for the journey across Canada.

You could hear a pin drop in the room full of young people as Terry showed them is artificial leg and his experiences with young cancer patients in hospital.

The community council used the school for their meetings back then and Weston Flight, the mayor, gave Terry a cheque for $100 on behalf of the town.

Somebody in the community did a door to door marathon and raised more money to contribute.

I had a 4-H photography group in the school and the picture I share was actually developed in the back porch of the old teacher residence.

We all know the story from here and how much money has been raised to fight this disease.

I met Terry's mother several times since then and once in Howley on the 10th anniversary of the run. She also spoke to the students of Xavier School in Deer Lake when I worked there.

On the 30th anniversary of the run I was in St. John's at the location where Terry first dipped his foot in the Atlantic. That day they unveiled the refurbished van that Terry had used for his marathon.

It was nice for Christine and I to chat to Terry's mom and dad and his brother Darrell Fox at that time, and to see the van once again.

I am thinking of Terry today and how much he means to our country.

We haven't beaten cancer, but many people survive today thanks in part to the research done from the Terry Fox Run.