Terry Fox Run ambassador shares his cancer journey story
The ambassador for the 2026 Stouffville Terry Fox Run has a lot in common with Terry Fox himself.
When Ryan Cairney felt a pain in his knee last summer, he thought it was the byproduct of an old baseball injury.
“I was having a lot of discomfort and pain that was getting gradually worse,” he recalled, “I was getting scans and X-rays and everyone just kept telling me I had arthritis from shattering my knee 20 years ago. So I just kind of started dealing with it.”
A physiotherapist offered hope, but those treatments didn’t lead to improvement.
Then an arthritis specialist ordered additional testing – which revealed a tumour.
Ryan, now 46, learned last October that it was Osteosarcoma – the same bone cancer Terry Fox had.
He began chemotherapy treatments at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto on Dec. 15.
Surgery followed in February.
“They removed my knee, six inches of my femur and the top plate of my tibia,” Ryan said, pointing to the scar – his “shark bite,” as the kids call it, “to make sure it hadn’t spread. And then they cut out six inches of the muscle on the side of my leg as well. So there’s no way it’s coming back there.”
Declared cancer-free this spring, Ryan remembers the low times, including spending five straight days in bed, a nasty infection and emergency runs to area hospitals.
But the Cairneys are grateful for the support from the community. The USPL, the softball league Ryan has been part of for more than 20 years, really stepped up with raising funds. Also, a charity golf tournament they supported for 20 years, Get Rec’d, came through with assistance. Friends and family chipped in with meals, rides, help with the kids and chores around the house.
A self-employed contractor – Cairney Homes is his company – Ryan hasn’t been able to work since November. His clients were understanding.
He hopes to be back on job sites soon and coaching his daughters’ softball teams full-time next summer.
Ryan, his wife Jenny, and their daughters, Quinn, 13, and Chanel, 11, had to delay a trip to the Maritimes by a year. When they made the trek this summer, there was a Terry Fox theme to the journey. They visited Terry’s statue in St. John’s where Terry dipped his artificial leg toe in the water and started his journey west.
“It was a very cool spot,” Ryan said in an Instagram post. “Being there, seeing how many people come to visit and pay respect to the statue, and along with sharing my journey, I didn’t realize the power Terry Fox has on so many people that have never even met him. He truly is a Canadian hero!
“While we were there, we met another family … I told them my story and to my surprise the woman broke down in tears and asked if she could give me a hug. I obviously accepted as her emotions got me emotional. It was a crazy powerful moment for me. She was so happy for me to be cancer-free and that I was able to share my story, too. It truly is amazing the power that comes from this journey I have been put on, and how it can affect complete strangers.
“While in St John’s talking to a few people about my story when asked, they, too, have become very emotional. A few apologized for asking or prying for details, but I told them I am an open book and have no shame in talking or answering questions. In my mind, if I can help even one person along the way, it’s all worth it.”
The Cairneys also visited a Terry Fox display in Halifax that featured a replica of Terry’s ‘Van of Hope’. Ryan wore one of his 2026 Terry Fox Run T-shirts at each stop.
Ryan is living proof of how survival rates have improved since Terry’s Marathon of Hope in 1980. But he also knows there’s more work to be done and gladly lent his name as ambassador.
The local Terry Fox Run returns to Stouffville Memorial Park on Sunday, Sept. 20. Festivities begin at noon, featuring entertainment by Kendal Lilly and Ruby Tuesday, displays, refreshments, and children’s activities. The opening ceremonies, which will include a speech by Ryan Cairney, begin at 12:50 p.m.
The Stouffville run has raised more than $2.4 million since 1982. The 2025 event drew approximately 1,000 participants and volunteers who raised more than $95,000 for cancer research. This year’s goal is $100,000.
This year’s run will follow a 5K course through southern Stouffville that begins and ends in the park – and will travel along the section of Park Drive that was renamed Terry Fox Way in 2023.
For more information and updates on the Stouffville Terry Fox Run, visit terryfox-stouffville.ca
Photo: The Cairney family is looking forward to this year’s Stouffville Terry Fox Run.