Fleetwood Bawden fighting for Marcus Karpati

Every year, tens of thousands of Albertans lose their battle with cancer.

For students and staff at Fleetwood Bawden Elementary school, that reality hit home during today’s Terry Fox run.

Former teacher Marcus Karpati was diagnosed with terminal cancer earlier this year.  It was news that came as a shock to fellow teacher Claire Fisher.

“Obviously we were deeply saddened, we are so very fond of him and we’ve enjoyed teaching with him and he and I coached basketball for a couple of years.”

Now, the 28 year old spends his days fighting to prolong his life. His students, some maybe too young to even fully understand what’s happening, continue to support him.  Those efforts aren’t lost on Karpati.

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“You can really see that there is a strong community around Fleetwood Bawden, and the support they’ve given to myself and my family is just amazing.”

The Terry Fox Run is a powerful annual tradition. Money is donated, heads are shaved, support is given, and people unite to fight a terrible disease. Few have seen the impact first hand of what the Terry Fox hand can do, quite like Terry Fox Sr. The Lethbridge resident is proud to see the impact his nephews legacy has had.

“About 87 cents of every dollar goes towards cancer research and that’s very important. and we are making in-roads. a lot of people don’t realize, but we are winning the war against cancer.”

It’s just one of thousands of Terry Fox runs held across the country. All designed to help people like Marcus Karpati.