By: Blake Dillon

Take Terry Fox. Now give him a leg, a bunch of tattoos and a skateboard. What do you get? In one writer’s opinion, you get the adorable Rob Dyer. But don’t tell him that, he pretty much cringed at the suggestion.

“I don’t think that I should ever be compared to Terry Fox,” Dyer said modestly. “He gave his life to something that he believed in and inspired a lot of people by doing so.”

Well, Mr. Dyer, need I remind you of Skate4Caner? You know, that organization that you started that sends you and a skateboard across countries raising both funds and awareness for cancer prevention?

While a man with a prosthetic leg attempting a nationwide journey is slightly different than a kid taking a long skateboard ride, one thing definitely links the two — passion. After all, it takes more than just legs to push a man from one side of a country to another.

It all started in 2004 when Dyer lost both of his grandmothers, his mother and his best friend to cancer.

“Skate4Cancer was a way for me to deal with what was going on in my life at the time,” he said. “It was my way of turning something negative into something positive.”

It’s an interesting route, I must say. Targeting a youth audience in a cancer prevention campaign is something I had never seen until Skate4Cancer came along.

“We do it because kids have a lot more power than adults,” he said confidently. “I can relate to kids more than I can adults — whether it’s through things like mannerisms or skateboarding.”

“Kids may not have the money,” he added, “but they sure do have the heart and the passion that a lot of adults lack.”

Though risky, it turned out to be a very wise decision. Kids have turned Skate4Cancer from a charity into a movement. You can not go to a concert, a skate park or even a grocery store without seeing “S4C” branded to something, whether it’s graffiti, a t-shirt or a sticker.

The Skate4Cancer foundation takes a remarkable zero per cent of all proceeds. The money that they raise is handed directly to the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. So, I guess this makes Rob Dyer a professional volunteer.

He volunteers his efforts, his time and his time away from home — something that’s difficult for even the strongest of characters.

“There are always sacrifices to make with anything you do in life,” said the activist. “But you only get one life — one chance to do something. So doing Skate4Cancer to the fullest, which means touring a lot, is just something that comes with it.”

And to the fullest he is doing it. Unlike some people.

Early last month, Ashley Kirilow, founder of Change 4 A Cure, a similar organization to that of Dyer’s, admitted to never having cancer and that the whole thing was fraud.

“We were in shock when we heard that news,” Dyer said with a sudden seriousness in his voice. “Having someone take advantage of people’s hearts that way made me feel really sick to my stomach.”

What Kirilow did is obviously terrible. However, Dyer brings up a good point in mentioning that her actions could possibly have a worse outcome yet.

“I really hope that she didn’t discourage people from helping the cause,” said the heartthrob. “If that’s the case, she’ll not only have taken from people, but she’ll have changed where people are headed with their hearts.”

“On the bright side,” he optimistically added, “it was amazing to see what the community did for a girl that they thought had cancer.”

To see that anybody can find a “bright side” in a story like Kirilow’s really shows the purity that is Rob Dyer. The man has been tormented by tragedy, but he seems to always have his chin held high.

Terry Fox had a lasting impression on the world. His name is known in the households of countries everywhere. He is a legend. And Rob Dyer — he is too. He just doesn’t know it yet.