Before breakfast and before other students had started to arrive, Glyn Davies was given special access to the university gym along with a friend.
The doors were unlocked early as Davies’ dad, Lorne Davies, was the director of athletics at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and had a close connection to his son’s morning gym partner.
Looking back to the “countless hours” spent shooting hoops and lifting weights, Davies said he had no inkling that his courageous gym buddy would turn out to be so famous and an inspiration to millions across Canada and the world.
The friend was Terry Fox.
“After his amputation, Terry started to do a lot of training at SFU and my dad used to open up the gym for the two of us early in the morning,” said Davies, 57, now a Grade 6 and 7 teacher at Anderson elementary.
“What’s so cool is that he was just like one of us and very much the common person with hopes and dreams.
“But the determination he showed when he found out he had cancer was nothing like I’ve ever seen.
“It was the determination an extreme athlete would show. He said, ‘I’ve got to do something.’
“He wasn’t a show-off trying to get attention, that just kind of happened by default.”
Davies said his connection to Fox went back to high school days when their schools competed at basketball.
“I was at Burnaby North and Terry was at Port Coquitlam (now named after Terry),” Davies said.
“We were the captains of our teams and got to know each other pretty well.”
While studying at SFU, Fox got to know Davies’ father very well and Davies senior was always going to see Fox in hospital after his cancer diagnosis and before his subsequent leg amputation.
“My dad, who passed away last year, and Terry were very close,” added Davies.
“When I became a teacher, Terry started to do his run.
“My big concern was that, after Terry died, people, and especially children, would forget about him.
“My dad met with Pierre Trudeau and they set up the humanitarian award for other Terrys across the country.”
Davies has long been an advocate for the Terry Fox Foundation and a few years ago even flew to Beijing to talk to kids about Fox.
Today (Friday), Davies and student leaders at Anderson elementary will be teaching students about Terry Fox’s courage and determination.
Richmond Olympian Evan Dunfee will also be making a special guest appearance to share his experiences as an Olympic athlete and encourage students to pursue their hopes and dreams as he has been doing.
Following Evan’s talk, the students, staff, and parents will go outside for the annual Terry Fox Run.
On Sunday, Sept. 18, the annual Terry Fox Run will take place in Richmond at Garry Point Park at 10 a.m., with registration from 9 a.m.
Dunfee will also take part in Sunday’s event, where participants, for a donation to the Terry Fox Foundation, can walk or run the 1K, 2K or 10K routes along the west dyke. For more information, go online to TerryFox.org.
