Steve Fonyo

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Steve Fonyo, Jr., O.C., (born June 29,1965 to a Hungarian family in Montreal) is a Canadian man who lost his left leg to cancer at age 12 and embarked on a cross-Canada marathon entitled the "Journey for Lives" to raise funds for cancer research. In doing so, he followed in the footsteps of Terry Fox; unlike Fox, who had to abandon his marathon when his cancer returned, Fonyo completed the coast-to-coast marathon and also completed a marathon across Great Britain.

Fonyo began his "Journey for Lives" marathon on March 31, 1984 at 18 years of age and completed it on May 29, 1985, covering 7924 km and raising $14 million (Canadian dollars). The early part of his run was overshadowed by the memory of Fox and some Canadians criticized him as a copycat. Despite this, he persevered and as he progressed beyond Fox's stopping point, he eventually won recognition in his own right for his efforts. He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1985. This achievement was marred by grief, as his father Steve Fonyo, Sr. died of lung cancer the same year.

In later years he suffered from depression and faced legal difficulties due to various criminal charges for which he ended up receiving a suspended sentence. He recovered and determined to get his life back on course. He studied mechanics at an early age as well as aircraft maintenance and as of 2008, was working as a mechanic in Surrey BC. Legal difficulties continue [1].

Steve Fonyo Drive in Kingston, Ontario is named after him, as is Steve Fonyo Beach in Victoria, British Columbia where he ended his run. Erected at the oval where he trained for the Canadian marathon (Fulton Park, Vernon BC) was a plaque in his memory however it was removed when he ran into legal trouble^{[citation needed]}. The anniversary of his completion of "Journey for Lives" is never celebrated publicly and he is only mentioned on the news when running into trouble^{[citation needed]}.

Fonyo Road was also named in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.