Manitoba Museum Terry Fox exhibit a special gathering for the Fox family

A very special exhibit will be opening at the Manitoba Museum to showcase special exhibits from Terry Fox's life. For the Fox family, it will also serve as a family reunion and a way to recognize Terry's legacy in the province and across the country.

"There's a whole next generation that's embracing Terry's story," Terry's brother, Darrell, said.

"It's helped us to accept that Terry was given to us for a purpose and we continue that purpose every year when we support and raise money for the Terry Fox Foundation."

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Terry Fox: Running to the Heart of Canada opens on July 14 and will showcase an in-depth look at Terry's epic 143-day, 5,373-kilometre journey from St. John's, N.L. to Thunder Bay, Ont.

For the Fox family, the commemoration's presence in Manitoba holds special meaning. Terry was born in Winnipeg in 1958 and around 50 family members are expected to gather for the exhibit's opening.

It will be a real special occasion to share the exhibit with them," Darrell said.

'Witnessing a nation embrace my brother'

When Terry was only 18 he thought he was experiencing pain from a basketball injury, Darrell said, but it turned out to be osteosarcoma. Only six days after the diagnosis, Terry had his leg amputated.

"He said 'I've always had to try my best to accomplishment what I have to the age of 18, I'm just going to have to try that much harder to overcome this latest challenge that's been set before me'," Darrell said.

While going through chemotherapy, Terry decided he would run the marathon.

"He made a promise during that period that if he ever walked out of the cancer ward alive, he would never forget those he had left behind," Darrell said.

The Marathon of Hope began on April 12 when Fox dipped his leg in the Atlantic Ocean. Darrell joined the journey six weeks in, driving the van beside his brother.

"Terry, I am prepared to admit, was pretty stinky too. Three young men crammed inside a very small camperized van," Darrell said with a laugh.

"But I was 17 at the time, it was an opportunity of a lifetime and I knew it. From the first day I arrived there, that I was witnessing something that would be remembered for quite some time."

Darrell would drive around 10 hours each day at 10 km/hr following his brother. Terry was sick, had shin splints, had sores on his stump, bled, was exhausted, and just kept running, Darrell said adding he thought Terry was invincible.

"I'm seeing Canada the way no one has seen Canada and I'm witnessing a nation embrace my brother - what could be better than that?" Darrell said.

At the start of September the marathon had to end in Thunder Bay, and Fox announced the cancer had returned and spread to his lung. Darrell said there was a sense of "emptiness and difficulty" but the family have seen the legacy the journey has left.

Exhibit will include special artifacts

Terry died in June 1981 at the age of 22.

Since then, close to $700 million has been raised in Terry's name for cancer research, according to the Manitoba Museum.

"Terry Fox has moved countless Canadians and his heroism continues to inspire us today," said Claudette Leclerc, Executive Director of the Manitoba Museum, in a news release.

"As Manitobans celebrate Terry Fox Day and Canadians prepare to participate in the Terry Fox Run, we can offer them a unique opportunity to better understand the context of the original Marathon of Hope and the spirit of the man who ran it."

The new exhibit will include special artifacts like Terry's journal, his artificial leg, and other archived materials.

Darrell said one item holds special meaning Terry's sock.

"The sock was one of those important items that Terry wore on his artificial leg from the day he left for St. John's on April 7 and he never took that sock off his artificial leg during the marathon of hope," Darrell said. "It became a symbol for him of continuing on, of never giving up."