After Robert was diagnosed with cancer, he turned to Terry Fox as a source of inspiration. Terry Fox was a Canadian athlete who had his leg amputated after being diagnosed with cancer. Fox then started a marathon run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. Robert saw Terry Fox as a Canadian hero who pursued his dreams despite his illness, and whose symbolic effort captured the attention of a wide public—just as Robert would later do with his Illness & Healing series. Terry Fox was two years younger than Robert and died the same year Robert was diagnosed with cancer. In a later work, Robert depicts Terry Fox among a crowd of people in a hospital elevator.