Am I the only one who thinks this is a little bit insane?
As much as I love Terry and what he has done for cancer research, this is going a bit too far. What does his mom have to do with all this? I'm sure she's a great person, was a great mother to Terry, helped him quite a bit, but like come on.
I'd much rather have the flame go towards athletic excellence, to be more specific a Canadian Olympian. And certainly not having one person from English Canada and one person from French Canada as suggested a few months ago by the federal government in a media leak....nor having another kid light the flame - the girl that lit the flame in Calgary strayed way off her course in becoming an Olympic athlete right after 1988.
My same thoughts go to Rick Hansen. Both Betty and Rick should carry the flame somewhere along the way, but to light the cauldron? Really???
I would love to see Rick light the Paralympic cauldron on the other hand.
Thousands on Facebook want Betty Fox to light the 2010 Olympic flame
By Sarah Payne - The Tri-City News
Published: January 20, 2009 6:00 PM
Updated: January 21, 2009 11:17 AM
‘Holy catfish!’ Betty Fox says when told of online effort
A Facebook campaign calling for Betty Fox, the mother of Port Coquitlam hometown hero Terry Fox, to light the 2010 Olympic flame is spreading like wildfire.
At the start of this week, the group had more than 7,100 members supporting the idea and about a third of them had just signed up over the weekend.
Many of the joiners are Lower Mainland residents but the page has also attracted people from as far away as the Netherlands.
Group creator Trev Fisher started the Facebook page less than two weeks ago and is stunned by the response.
“This is amazing, I can’t believe this is happening,” said the North Delta resident. He figured that having 10,000 people sign up would be a long shot, so the strong response in such a short time has been quite a shock.
Fisher, 33, said he has only vague memories of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope, which started on April 12, 1980 in St. John’s, Nfld. Terry ran a marathon every day for 143 days before the cancer that had taken his leg three years earlier returned, forcing him to cut short his mission to raise money for cancer research.
The Marathon of Hope ended on Sept. 1, 1980 and Terry died less than a year later but he left behind an enduring legacy: More than $400 million has since been raised for cancer research through the annual Terry Fox Run.
Growing up in North Delta, Fisher often participated in Terry Fox Runs with his family, and it was his mother’s desire to see Terry’s mom light the flame that inspired him to create the Facebook page.
“Fortunately, cancer’s not a big thing in our lives but it affects a lot of people,” he said.
And while Terry may not always be in the front of our minds, his presence is felt often in the annual runs and in the many schools, libraries and monuments named in his honour. “For a 21-year-old man to do what he did... it’s pretty amazing.”
People who have signed on to the page have offered similar sentiments.
“I cannot think of anyone more deserving than Mrs. Fox to light the flame in honour of her son Terry, who ran across Canada for cancer,” wrote Kathy, who added she’ll never forget the day she was working at a diner in White River, Ont. when Terry and his support crew — his brother Darrell and friend Doug Alward — came in for lunch.
“Another way to keep the memory of a beautiful human being alive,” wrote Anila on the site. “Especially because he is ‘til this day a hero for all of us Canadians.”
And from Dawn, who remembers seeing Terry training for the Marathon of Hope every day on her way to school: “It would be a joy for all of us proud Canadians, and especially BC’ers, to see the mother of our hometown hero lighting the torch.”
Betty Fox said she’d heard something about a Facebook page but had no idea how far it had spread.
“Holy catfish!” she exclaimed when told some 7,000 people wanted to see her light the flame. “Me? Why me? I’m speechless... It’s truly fabulous that people feel that way. It really is wonderful.”
Carrying the torch would be an incredible honour, Fox said, one that she could imagine being bestowed on any number of B.C. athletes.
“I feel very honoured that so many people feel that way,” she said. “I’m just totally honoured.”
The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay starts in Victoria on Oct. 30, 2009; 12,000 torchbearers will carry it from top to bottom and across the country before it ends up back in Vancouver on Feb. 12, 2010.
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Thousands on Facebook want Betty Fox to light the 2010 Olympic flame
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