Terry Fox’s van to be featured at Calgary’s Heritage Park

The Van of Hope that Terry Fox relied on during his epic run from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Thunder Bay is now in Calgary.

It is being featured as an exhibit for 143 days, the same number of days Fox ran to bring awareness about the need to push for a cure for cancer.

Heritage Park’s Dominic Terry told CityNews the Ford Funcraft is intricately linked to Fox and the hard work he did in his short life.

“The van is kind of the symbol of that iconic picture of Terry running that marathon a day that he did, and the van is right there behind him,” he said.

“That van represents every mile that Terry ran because it was there with him.”

Fox was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma just above the knee and had the lower portion of his leg amputated.

Moved by the suffering he saw in cancer wards, the young man launched his Marathon of Hope with the plan to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research.

He ran close to 42 kilometres a day, stopping in more than 400 towns along the way to tell people why.

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“The van is a very important part … and is intricately linked to Terry, one of the most prominent Canadians in history,” Terry explained.

“I think the van and Terry are intertwined and tell an excellent story about Terry’s life.”

The exhibit will have text, images, and seating for those who attend.

The Van of Hope will be displayed in Gasoline Alley at Heritage Park from Sunday until the end of January.

More information can be found online.