Steve Fonyo, cancer survivor who ran across Canada, dies at 56
After losing his leg to cancer, Fonyo ran across Canada to raise money for cancer research in 1985
Steve Fonyo, the teenager who ran across Canada in 1985 with a prosthetic leg to raise funds for cancer research, has died at the age of 56. According to several news outlets, he passed away in a hotel room in Burnaby after experiencing a seizure.
Steve Fonyo, who ran across Canada to raise millions for cancer research, dead at 56. Fonyo, who lost a leg to cancer, was appointed to the Order of Canada but it was revoked after several convictions. Fonyo's niece says he had an apparent seizure and could not be revived. pic.twitter.com/vzCnstWhQc
— CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) February 21, 2022
Fonyo has a complicated history. He lost his leg to cancer when he was just 12 years old and became a national hero a few years later when he completed the “Journey for Lives” initiative, in which he picked up where Terry Fox left off, running across Canada with a prosthetic leg. He raised more than 13 million dollars in the process and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1985.
Sadly, his life began to unravel in the ensuing years. As an adult, he struggled with depression and substance abuse, and his Order of Canada was revoked in 2009 after a series of criminal offenses, including impaired driving and assault.
A national hero, followed by a troubled life. Let's remember the good he did: Steve Fonyo, lost leg to cancer, ran across Canada to raise funds, dead at 56: Completed a Canada-wide marathon to raise money for cancer research, 5 years after Terry Fox's run https://t.co/petSHVGM6T
— Lorrie Goldstein (@sunlorrie) February 21, 2022
Fonyo was reportedly in Vancouver with his partner, Lisa Herbert, to have his prosthetic foot repaired. Hebert told Global News that she returned to their hotel room to find Fonyo experiencing a seizure, so she called 911. Paramedics attempted to revive him for over an hour, but he was pronounced dead just after midnight on Friday morning.
In 2015, Fonyo was the subject of a Toronto Film Festival documentary called HURT, which documented his struggles and highlighted his efforts to put his life back together. Over the last seven years, he has done exactly that and friends and family say he appeared to be much happier.
“His personality was really big, it filled every room. Everybody that met him, most of them loved him, some of them didn’t like him, but you know you can’t make everyone happy,” Herbert told Global News. “He acknowledged his life had some problems, but he was generally a guy who just loved people.”
As of Tuesday morning, Fonyo’s cause of death had not yet been revealed. His niece, Melody Kruppa, is now calling on the federal government to have his Order of Canada reinstated. There was a significant public outcry when it was removed initially, with several supporters arguing he should be remembered as a hero despite the problems he faced later in life.
“What I respected about him was that he had a lot of difficulties, but he kept going. He just persevered,” Kruppa told CBC News. “If this isn’t possible then I will cut out the photo that I have of his medal and place it on his chest at the burial. If the latter is necessary then that would be a real shame.”
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