More than 95,500 people are making the case for Betty Fox, mother of Canadian icon Terry Fox, to light the Olympic flame at B.C. Place in February.
“She does so much for so many people every day. She’s at every Terry Fox event making sure he lives on,” said Trev Fisher, creator of “Terry Fox’s mother to light the flame at the 2010 Olympics,” a Facebook group dedicated to making Betty the final torchbearer for the 2010 Olympic torch relay.
Terry Fox, one of B.C.’s favourite sons, was 18 when he was diagnosed with bone cancer and had his right leg amputated.
Three years later, in 1980, he set out on his Marathon of Hope — a cross-country run to raise money for cancer research. After 143 days, he had to stop because the cancer had spread to his lungs.
A year later he died. He was 22.
Fisher, who has exchanged e-mails with VANOC, said he hopes Olympic organizers have taken notice of the online campaign.
“He’s an icon when it comes to selflessness — he knew he was going to die but he did [the marathon] anyway,” Fisher said. “It would be the ultimate tribute to him.”
