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laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
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 Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2006 4:55 pm Post subject: Korean amputee inspired by Fox |
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Korean amputee inspired by Fox
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`Reborn' thanks to Terry
Korean amputee inspired by Fox
`I cried over his extraordinary venture'
Sep. 16, 2006. 01:00 AM
JOHN GODDARD
STAFF REPORTER
A Korean man who lost his leg in a car crash while touring Canada has become a key champion of the annual Terry Fox Run in Seoul.
"I want to share (Fox's) amazing story with others, which will continue until I meet him in heaven," Kim Sung-kyu said in an email yesterday.
Kim was travelling with his wife, Hyang-Sook, in the summer of 1999 when they crashed near Quebec City. His wife died. Kim woke up in hospital, 19 days later, gravely injured.
Doctors amputated his right leg but managed to save the left.
"While I was hospitalized in Canada for more than two months, doctors told me that (the) possibility was high I would never walk again," he wrote through a translator.
"I couldn't even move my neck. I was living in pain and depression."
During the ordeal, people from Montreal's Korean community visited Kim at H�pital de l'Enfant-J�sus in Quebec, bringing him kimchi and other favourite foods.
Hospital nurses learned enough Korean to ask questions such as, "How do you feel today?" and to understand his answers.
After Kim returned home, the Quebec government paid for doctors to go to Korea for follow-up treatment.
Slowly, he recuperated. When he felt ready, he returned to Quebec to thank his caretakers for their kindness.
In August 2004, he heard of Fox for the first time � "a big shock to me," Kim said.
The young man from Port Coquitlam, B.C., having lost a leg to cancer, began his one-legged cross-country run on April 12, 1980. In what he dubbed the Marathon of Hope, he ran for 143 days, covering 5,373 kilometres, until the spread of the cancer stopped him.
Fox died on June 28, 1981, at the age of 22.
"As an amputee, I could imagine how much pain he must have been in while he ran," Kim said. "I cried over his extraordinary venture.
"I respect his courage from the bottom of my heart."
Reading the story inspired Kim to try to walk again.
He had been getting around in an electric wheelchair, working as a convenience store manager to earn a living for himself and his three children.
Kim then began training for Seoul's annual Terry Fox Run, organized by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
Terry Fox Runs are held in 50 countries around the world. Seoul's has been going since 1991 � a non-competitive run or walk over five or 10 kilometres to raise money for cancer research.
Kim fell often during training, he said. His leg often bled. People often stopped to try to hail him a taxi, but he kept going for three kilometres a day.
When the big day came, he completed a full five kilometres.
"(Fox) is the symbol of hope and courage for me and for the disabled in Korea," Kim said.
He participated in the Seoul run again last year, once again covering five kilometres.
Canada's ambassador to Korea, Marius Grinius, said Kim talks about Fox all the time.
"He came to grips with what happened and turned what was an incredible tragedy to a positive story under the circumstances," Grinius told the English-language Korean Herald this week.
When asked his feelings about this country, Kim said: "I was born in Korea and I was reborn in Canada.
"Some people say Canada would be a bitter country in my memory, where I lost my leg and my beautiful wife. But I am thinking the opposite way," he said.
"All the Canadians I met during my time in hospital gave me much love, hope and courage to continue my life. Canada is my second motherland.
"I want to share my story and to raise awareness of Terry's story in Korea by participating in the run every year. That is the way I can return their care, love and friendship."
He'll be at the starting line again tomorrow, for this year's event at Han River Civil Park in Seoul. |
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SarcasmKills
Joined: 07 Apr 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2006 5:15 pm Post subject: |
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| I love stories like this.. thanks for sharing it... |
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laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
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| Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2006 4:21 pm Post subject: |
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*bump*
Jessica Alba |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2006 4:46 pm Post subject: |
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| more of an athelete than any golfer. Tiger Woods should be ashamed. |
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flotsam
Joined: 28 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2006 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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| jinju wrote: |
| more of an athelete than any golfer. Tiger Woods should be ashamed. |
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kermo
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe.
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| Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 4:08 am Post subject: |
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| That fella was born in my hometown! Go, The Peg! |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 5:41 am Post subject: |
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| kermo wrote: |
| That fella was born in my hometown! Go, The Peg! |
Oh gawd, is that really his nickname??  |
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numazawa
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Location: The Concrete Barnyard
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| Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 5:46 am Post subject: |
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| JongnoGuru wrote: |
| kermo wrote: |
| That fella was born in my hometown! Go, The Peg! |
Oh gawd, is that really his nickname?? |
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djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
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| Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 7:42 am Post subject: |
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This guy is more amazing. He lost his arm too, AND could still swashbuckle like the most swashbuckling of swashbucklers. Shiver me timbers matey, I need me undies. Arr! |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 7:44 am Post subject: |
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| djsmnc wrote: |
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That's no real pirate. No eyepatch, no parrot. |
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djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
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| Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 7:51 am Post subject: |
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| JongnoGuru wrote: |
| djsmnc wrote: |
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That's no real pirate. No eyepatch, no parrot. |
Yeah, he was the younger brother who decided to go into the restaurant business... THIS is the real pirate, his older brother:
And their parrot, who sold out to fame and pedophilia:
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bombenhagen
Joined: 21 Jun 2006
Location: NL
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| Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 8:39 am Post subject: |
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| Was there a Terry Fox run anywhere in Korea this year? I loved those things when I was a kid. |
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