Eddy Nolan offers inspiration
By Jim Morrison
www.thesuburban.com
The auditorium at Beaconsfield High School presented three assemblies, to its 1,100 student body, in various classes, this past Friday, Sept. 12, in support of The Terry Fox Foundation annual school day challenge.
Île Bizard native, Eddy Nolan was the guest speaker, as he has participated in every event since the inception of the run in 1981.
Terry Fox became Nolan’s hero after witnessing The Marathon of Hope in 1980, as he crossed the Quebec/Ontario border.
“He was so selfless. It was all about the kids, and it struck a chord” recalls the 57-year-old Nolan.
Nolan has long encouraged students and a myriad of others in taking up Terry’s cause. His message to the kids in the audience was the importance of their involvement in making a difference in the fight against cancer.
Ironically, in 2011, after losing two sisters to cancer, the Roslyn School caretaker was stricken with the very disease he had taken so long to fight and left him with a feeding tube in his stomach.
Nolan coped with his situation drawing on the inspiration of Fox when the latter was in the hospital.
“When his leg was being amputated in the hospital in B.C., Fox cried for the children he saw down the hallway with the helplessness in their face and the children that had terminal cancer. With that run and everything else he made us so proud to be Canadian and I just got to do what I have to do for the rest of my life,” stated a determined Nolan.
The mission statement of The Terry Fox Foundation is to maintain the vision and principles of Terry Fox while raising money for cancer research through the annual Terry Fox Run (or the Run), National School Run Day, as well as via memoriam donations and planned gifts. In accordance with Terry’s wishes, all monies raised in his name are to be used strictly for cancer research.
The Terry Fox Foundation allocates $.084 per dollar to cancer research. To date, $650 million has been raised worldwide.
Terry Fox once said: “Even if I don’t finish, we need others to continue. It’s got to keep going without me.” Together, let’s all keep it going.
The Terry Fox National School Day Challenge is set for Wednesday, Sept. 24. At press time, Eddy Nolan had raised $7,175.
The assembly concluded with a video montage of Fox during his Marathon of Hope in 1980, as students began to clap, cheer, and sing along to I would walk 500 miles by The Proclaimers
Further information on The Terry Fox Foundation can be viewed at: www.terryfox.org
The Beaconsfield High School website can be viewed at the following link beaconsfield.lbpsb.qc.ca
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