Terry Fox memorial unveiled at BC Place
Posted September 16, 2011 11:34 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – “We are only here today because Terry cannot be,” echoed recorded words from the late Betty Fox Friday morning, kicking off the unveiling ceremony for the Terry Fox memorial at BC Place.
Then, up came the purple curtains covering four bronze statues of her son. They are smaller in the back and bigger in the front, designed that way to give people a clear picture of how Terry ran.
The statues were designed by local artist Douglas Coupland. “The most important part of all was to make sure people who don’t know the story can still get the story,” Coupland says. “I joked if squirrels are running the planet in a million years, they should be able to look at this and understand it as much as human beings here in 2011.”
Terry’s father, Rolly Fox, made his first public appearance since Betty passed away in June. He had been content to stay behind the scenes and let Betty be the face the Terry Fox Foundation for the last 31 years but felt it was necessary to take the stage himself at the ceremony.
He gave a brief but passionate speech that got a loud round of applause from the crowd. “I kind of surprised myself,” Fox told the crowd. “I didn’t think I would do that well.”
He thanked Coupland for bringing Terry’s journey to life with the sculpture. “I like the biggest of the four statues in the front the best,” Fox says. “It shows that he was always waving at people. When he was running, he was forever waving at people or cars honking. It makes me remember when I used to watch him run.”
Coupland felt obligated to get the statues just right. “We had to look at hundreds, if not thousands of pictures of Terry’s face and you realize there wasn’t a single step he took during the run when he wasn’t in some kind of pain,” notes Coupland. “Boy, it sure puts you in your place.”
Rolly says it was a great day but it wasn’t the same without Betty there beside him. “I just wish she was here to see this,” Fox said. “She was so looking forward to being here today.”
