In March 1977, 18-year-old Terry Fox, a freshman cross-country runner at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, was hospitalized for a severe pain in his right knee. He was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma, a form of bone cancer, and several days later his right leg was amputated six inches above his knee.

Before the operation, his high school basketball coach showed him an article about an amputee who ran the New York City Marathon. After being fitted with an artificial limb, Fox began training for long-distance races. But as he saw the conditions in cancer wards, he became determined to do more.

He came up with the idea to raise money for cancer research by running across Canada, with the goal of raising one dollar for each of the 24 million residents of Canada. He sent a letter to the Canadian Cancer Society in October 1979 to ask for funding.

“As I went through the 16 months of the physically and emotionally draining ordeal of chemotherapy, I was rudely awakened by the feelings that surrounded and coursed through the cancer clinic,” he wrote. “There were faces with the brave smiles, and the ones who had given up smiling. There were feelings of hopeful denial, and the feelings of despair. My quest would not be a selfish one. I could not leave knowing these faces and feelings would still exist, even though I would be set free from mine.”

Fox received some funding and supplies from the CCS and other sponsors. He traveled with his friend Doug Alward to St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada’s easternmost point, to begin the “Marathon of Hope.” On April 12, 1980, Fox dipped his leg in the Atlantic Ocean and began his run toward Vancouver, on Canada’s Pacific coast.

The Marathon of Hope began with little fanfare. Running about a marathon each day, Fox—with Alward following in a camper van—collected money from people along the road as he wound through the Maritime provinces.

Word of his trek gradually grew and he was greeted with a welcoming party when he reached Ontario on June 30. A few days later, in Ottawa, he was honored at a CFL game and greeted by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

He became a national celebrity and a song, “Run, Terry, Run,” was written about him. In Toronto, 10,000 people welcomed him, including Maple Leafs legend Darryl Sittler, who gave Fox his All-Star jersey.

“He ran with a kind of hop and a skip with his prosthetic leg … through rain, snow and hailstones during the early weeks, then endured the sizzling afternoon sun of June and July,” wrote Time. “Some Canadians said they felt a little squeamish at the newspaper and television pictures of his occasionally bloody stump and his face contorted in pain.”

Fox’s health began to deteriorate as he passed the halfway mark of his run. On Sept. 1, after running 18 miles from Thunder Bay, Ontario, he asked to go to the hospital for a pain in his chest. Doctors discovered that the cancer had spread from his leg to his lungs.

As he was wheeled out of the hospital, he told reporters, “Now the cancer is in my lung and I have to go home … I'll do everything I can. I'm gonna do my very best. I'll fight. I promise I won't give up.”

Fox had run 3,339 miles in 143 days, about 23.3 miles a day. He raised more than $11 million raised for cancer research.

Two days after Fox was forced to end his journey, the CTV network held a telethon that raised $10 million. In February 1981, donations hit $24.17 million, reaching Fox’s goal of $1 per Canadian.

Fox died June 28, 1981, at the age of 22. “There was nation-wide mourning. Flags were flown at half-mast. But people didn't forget him and his story didn't end with his death,” writes the Terry Fox Foundation. “The first Terry Fox Run was held that September—more than 300,000 people walked or ran or cycled in his memory and raised $3.5 million.”

The Terry Fox Run, held annually every September in Canada, has raised more than $400 million for cancer research. Other Terry Fox Runs are held in more than 50 countries.

In 1984, 18-year-old Steve Fonyo, who lost a leg to bone cancer, began his own run across Canada, called the “journey for lives.” He completed the 4,924-mile run in 14 months and raised nearly $10 million.

“I cried at night and I cried in the day,” he said. “But I didn't give up. Don't you give up. All you've got to do is keep going, keep plugging away.”