Preliminary numbers are in and it looks like this year's Terry Fox Run in Tecumseh will set a new fundraising high.
The previous record was $103,000 but the total was already at $101, 860.52 by the end of this year's run. Committee chairperson Jan Wright advises these numbers will change over the next few days as more online donations come in.
The cancer survivors are leading off! #WindsorEssex #CancerResearch #TerryFoxRun pic.twitter.com/kC7kvzu2Cr
— Tecumseh TerryFoxRun (@TerryFoxRunTec) September 16, 2018
Terry Fox embarked on a run across Canada with a single dream, a world without cancer. Participant and cancer survivor Mayor Gary McNamara says the residents of Tecumseh continue to keep that dream alive.
"They really, really, live the dream that Terry Fox wanted and they're going to continue to come out until they fulfill Terry's promise to everybody that he was going to raise enough money to find a cure," he says.
McNamara says the fundraiser holds a special place in heart and in the hearts of so many families throughout the region.
"I'm a survivor and I firmly believe that a lot of it is because of people that take the time every year in September to make the pledge and walk, raise the dollars for research into cancer," says McNamara.
The Tecumseh Terry Fox Run has raised more than $800,000 for cancer research since 2005.
McNamara says he's happy to see cancer is no longer a death sentence for many people. "We're seeing now so many advancements in cures that are happening and it's because of the dollars being raised and the research that's being done," he says.