Media reports that Betty Fox, mother of the late Terry Fox, has cancer are incorrect.
However, a statement released on Friday by the Fox family on the Terry Fox Foundation website says she is seriously ill.
Below is the text of the statement.
Statement on Behalf of the Family of Mrs. Betty Fox, Mother of Terry Fox
Friday, June 3, 2011
We wish to share that our wife and mother, Mrs. Betty Fox, is seriously ill. Media reports today that she has cancer are incorrect. To respect her privacy, no other details will be provided.
We have always appreciated the support and understanding the media has granted to our family since Terry's Marathon of Hope in 1980. We are hopeful that Betty's privacy and ours will be respected at this time. We thank you in advance for your consideration.
For more than 30 years Betty has been the face of the Terry Fox Foundation, encouraging, inspiring, pushing the world to continue her son's dream of eradicating cancer. She quit her job, traveled the world, listened to stories, shed tears, shaved her head, and was selected to be a flag bearer among other Canadian celebrities for the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics – all in the name of her son.
It was what he would have wanted.
"I knew what Terry started was far more important than me loving the work I do, far more important," she told The Progress last September for the 30th anniversary of the Terry Fox Run. "I don't ever want anyone to think that this has changed my life. What I have done has been for my son and because I have believed in his cause. I believe there will be a cure for cancer."
To date, over $550 million has been raised worldwide for cancer research through the annual Terry Fox Run.
"I know Terry would be proud, he would be very, very proud," she told The Progress in a past interview.
Well wishes, cards and letters of support can be emailed to bettyfoxmessages@gmail.com or on the Terry Fox Foundation website at http://www.terryfox.org/cgi/page.cgi/wellwishes.html.
They can also be mailed to the Terry Fox Foundation national office at 303-46167 Yale Road, Chilliwack, BC, V2P 2P2.