Marking anniversary of first Terry Fox Run 'Google Doodle' honours Canadian hero

Summary

Terry Fox is the subject of Sunday's 'Google Doodle' and is appearing on the Google homepage

The image shows a sketch of Terry running down a path with a beautiful mountain range and lake behind him

BURNABY (CityNews) — To commemorate the first Terry Fox Run, Google is recognizing the Canadian hero.

Terry Fox grew up in Port Coquitlam, and at just 22-years-old, he set off on his cross-country run to raise money for cancer research.

In honour of the icon, Google has featured a Toronto-based artist’s work on their home page Sunday.

And the artist behind this illustration has more in common with Fox than you might think.

Lynn Scurfield, who is 26-years-old, has fought cancer and says she knows some of the pain Fox faced and recognizes the resilience he had to have.

“I had a different kind of cancer Hodgkin’s lymphoma … it’s very curable. I went through all the treatments last year and it’s wild. I can’t imagine having something worse than what I had,” she tells CityNews.

Scurfield says she was taken aback when she was asked by Google to create an image in honour of the Canadian runner.

She drew inspiration from the start of Fox’s marathon in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, underlining that she had a specific narrative she hoped to tell through the skyline.

“Something where the weather wasn’t perfect, I knew a big part of it was he ran through everything, he ran thorough so much bad weather. I wanted it to be beautiful but not a perfect serene blue sky day,” she explains.

Early concepts and sketches of the Doodle show Terry at different stages of his journey, but each one has the presence of a vibrant sun symbolizing hope.

Scurfield says she has been overwhelmed by the public’s reaction.

“Now the whole world is getting to see it all at once which is wild.”

This year, a virtual Terry Fox Run will be held Sunday, September 20.

The Terry Fox Foundation is encouraging everyone to unite in spirit and run wherever you are.