Hospital da Luz joined this first Terry Fox Run in Leiria, which took place last October 4, promoted by Leiria International School. Inspired in Terry Fox’s Hope Run, launched 45 years ago, students, family and friends of the institution got together to run and/or walk in favour of cancer research, at the same time paying tribute to a legacy of courage, resilience, and hope. The revenues of the running event reverted to the Portuguese League Against Cancer, official partner of the Terry Fox Foundation in Portugal. The Hospital da Luz team supporting the event included nurses Carla Gonçalves and Francisca Simões. Terry Fox was a young Canadian who at the age of 18 was diagnosed with bone cancer. After losing one leg due to osteosarcoma, he decided to cross Canada from coast to coast to raise funds in favour of cancer research. He covered 42 km a day and managed to raise 360 million dollars, completing what became the Marathon of Hope. Terry Fox run for about 42 km a day along 143 consecutive days, covering around 5,300 km in all. He died at the age of 22. This first Terry Fox Run in Leiria gathered the community and reinforced the message that health, prevention and solidarity are shared responsibilities. Hospital da Luz congratulates the organization and thanks the invitation to take part in this very special initiative.
