Jim Terrion is over halfway to his lifetime goal: to raise $1 million for the Terry Fox Foundation.
Every year since 1991 Terrion has participated in the Terry Fox Run and, as of November, had raised over $580,000 for cancer research- making him the top individual fundraiser for the foundation. Born nearly deaf, Terrion was inspired by Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope as a teenager.
"He followed Terry Fox all through his [Marathon of Hope,]" his mother Faye Terrion said.
"In 1990 [Jim] walked across Canada, from Feb. 5 to Nov. 22."
Jim's walk was raise awareness of issues facing the deaf and in support of the World Winter Games for the Deaf, which were held in Banff in 1991. He travelled from Edmonton to where Terry Fox dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean and back to his then-hometown of Prince Rupert -travelling a total of 9,917 km followed by a support vehicle.
Faye said prior to his trans-Canada walk in 1990, Jim had felt his inability to speak or hear people would prevent him from canvassing for donations. But the experience taught him he could connect with people, despite his inability to communicate verbally - particularly in Prince Rupert where he is well known.
"He starts here in about August and goes canvassing," Faye said, adding that she sometimes goes with him to act as a translator.
Later in August, Jim will take his holidays from his job at the University Hospital of Northern B.C. to spend several weeks canvassing door-to-door in Prince Rupert, she said.
His best one-year total came in 1996, when he raised about $47,000.
"It's his hometown, everyone knows him," Faye said.
In November, 2015, he plans to celebrate his 25th year doing the walk by travelling with a a friend to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to take part in the Terry Fox Run there, she said.
"That year he'll go to [Prince] Rupert to canvass, then fly to Vancouver to do the walk in Port Coquitlam [Terry Fox's hometown], before going to Malaysia," Faye said. "He's never had a holiday. He takes his holidays to canvass, so this will be a bit of a holiday for him as well."
Faye said Jim expects to break the $600,000 mark this year, and is still going strong.
"His goal is to raise $1 million, but he won't stop there."
--With files from Bernice Trick
