My second living hero is Rick Hansen, another Canadian, who grew up in Williams Lake British Columbia, where I also lived for a few years as a kid. Rick Hansen was paralyzed from the waist down when he was 15 after being thrown from the back of a truck. I can’t imagine how devastating that would be to anyone especially a teenager who loved sports. He started rehabilitation, finished high school and then graduated from the University of British Columbia as the first student with a physical disability to earn his degree in physical education. He went on to play wheelchair basketball and volleyball and also became a world class wheelchair marathoner.
Rick was inspired by his friend Terry Fox who attempted the 8.000 km trek across Canada to raise money for cancer research. He started his Man in Motion tour in March of 1985. He went on a 26 month journey, racking up over 40.000 km in 34 countries. The circumference of the earth is approximately the same distance. Can you imagine traveling around the world in a wheelchair? He raised over $26 million for spinal cord research and quality of life initiatives. I got to meet Rick Hansen at my elementary school during his tour. I will never forget meeting him and being so amazed as a 6 year old that someone could, or more so, would choose to wheelchair across the world for something they believed in.
I will be thinking of Rick Hansen when I have my day in a wheelchair and the amazing things that one person accomplished despite his physical limitations.
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