03 February,2012 11:52 AM IST | | Sundari Iyer
Tennis ace Leander Paes, who returned from Australia yesterday after creating history by becoming the first Indian to complete a career Grand Slam of winning all four major titles, will join thousands of Mumbaikars including children from 40 schools in the 14th Terry Fox Run to be held in the city this Sunday.
Welcome back: Leander Paes poses with his Australian Open men's
doubles trophy on his arrival at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International
Airport in Mumbai yesterday. Paes and Radek Stepanek beat World No
1 Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6 (7-1), 6-2 to win the title. Pic/Mahesh Chafe
It will be the tennis champ's fourth year of participation in a run held in honour of Canadian teenager, Terry Fox, who ran a marathon for 143 cancer patients in 1980, despite suffering from osteogenic sarcoma or bone cancer and having his right leg amputated. Fox passed away in 1981.
The race will start from the Air India building (Nariman Point), run through the Marine Drive flyover and will end at Brabourne Stadium. The proceeds will go to the Tata Memorial Hospital for cancer research.
Convener of Terry Fox India, Gul Kripalani is glad that the event is slowly spreading to other parts of India (Chennai, Chandigarh and Kolkata) as well and this year, they look to generate close to Rs one crore for cancer research. "We have already collected close to R95 lakh," said Kripalani.
