The brother of one of the most famous Canadians stopped by Swift Current earlier this week to carry on his brother's message.   

Fred Fox, the brother of Terry Fox, gave presentations to students in five schools on Monday and Tuesday, passing along his brother's message and trying to inspire the students.  

Fox said that the goal of the presentations is for the students to realize that Terry was an ordinary man, that did an extraordinary thing.    

"Terry is a great example of working hard, having determination, never giving up and he's a great lesson for all of the kids," he said. "Terry was, and there is no exaggeration when we say he was an average ordinary kid, who was doing something extraordinary when he was running across Canada. As a kid, he wasn't the best athlete, wasn't the best student. He had to work harder than anybody else and, in my presentations, a lot of my focus is on Terry and what he was like as a kid and the student's age."    

He said that he also likes to reinforce why students take part in the Terry Fox Run, which is to continue to achieve Terry's goal of raising money for cancer research.    

"It's what is the most important part of the run. When I get to a Terry Fox Run, whether it's at a school or a community and you see the red Terry Fox Run t-shirts, that signals a cancer survivor," he noted. "We don't really like to throw out that big number of what's been raised, but more importantly, the survivor rate for certain types of cancer. The rate is so much better than they were before. Much better than it was 40 years ago when Terry was diagnosed, and that's what it is all about. Terry wanted to have an impact, Terry wanted to find a cure for cancer, and we are getting closer every day."  

He said he also likes to focus on what made Terry popular during the run.    

"During the Marathon of Hope, people grabbed on to his personality. They saw why he was doing it. It wasn't for personal gain; it wasn't to become famous; it wasn't to become rich afterwards or to be known as a hero. None of that stuff mattered to Terry, and I think that's why it continues today. People still see that Terry represents Canada. I think a lot of what Terry's traits are, is what Canadians are represented by around the world."    

It's been nearly four decades since a group of people went to Terry and asked if they could continue the Marathon of Hope for him. Fox said he could have never imagined the run evolving into what it is today.   

"It's amazing. Terry could never have imagined the impact that he would have all these years later. He had a simple goal of raising one million dollars when he left Newfoundland and Labrador and later during the Marathon of Hope that turned into a dollar for every Canadian, 24 million people at the time. Terry saw that goal before he passed away, and here, we are all these years later, over $750 million has been raised. We could have never imaged the impact Terry would have."  

Fox gave presentations to the students at Central School, Ecole Centennial School, All Saints Catholic School, Fairview School, and O.M. Irwin School.