Rick Hansen

Richard Marvin "Rick" Hansen is a former Paralympic athlete and founder of the Rick Hansen Foundation, which seeks to make the world more accessible and inclusive for individuals with disabilities. He was named Canada's Disabled Athlete of the Year in 1979, 1980, and 1982. He won 9 Pan American Wheelchair gold medals, and represented Canada in the 1984 Summer Paralympic Games. He is famous for his Man In Motion World Tour, where he wheeled over 40,000 km through 34 different countries around the world to raise awareness, gain public support, and raise money for spinal cord research, rehabilitation, and wheelchair sports.

Early Life

Rick Hansen was born in Port Alberni, British Columbia in 1957, and grew up in Williams Lake, British Columbia. He was the oldest of four children As a child, he was a gifted athlete and had ambitions for professional sport. He played volleyball, softball, basketball, and baseball. In June of 1973, he and a friend were hitchhiking during a fishing trip, when the driver, who was drunk, accidentally drove off the side of the road, causing the pick-up truck they were riding in to flip over. His friend was thrown onto the grass and did not suffer any severe injuries, but Hansen landed on a metal toolbox, which resulted in a spinal cord injury and caused him to be paralyzed from the waist down. This did not stop him from enjoying sports however. After rehabilitation, Rick Hansen successfully completed high school and became the first student with a physical disability to graduate in physical education from the University of British Columbia.

During his time at the University of British Columbia, Rick Hansen participated in wheelchair sports like wheelchair basketball and volleyball. He won many competitions including many national championships with the Vancouver Cable Cars, a powerhouse wheelchair basketball team. He won three gold, two silver, and one bronze medals for Team Canada in wheelchair racing at the 1980 and 1984 Summer Paralympics and a total of 19 international wheelchair marathons, including three world championships. He inspired a young Terry Fox, who had recently had his leg amputated, to start playing wheelchair sports, even inviting him to play on the Vancouver Cable Cars with him. In 1983, Hansen, along with co-recipient Wayne Gretzky, was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy for Canadian Outstanding Athlete of the Year.

Man In Motion World Tour

Rick Hansen was inspired by Terry Fox's 1980 Marathon of Hope, where Fox attempted to run with a prosthetic leg from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island, raising over 24 million dollars for cancer research. On March 21, 1985, Hansen embarked on a two-year journey which saw him wheel over 40,072 km in 34 different countries all around the world, as part of his Man In Motion World Tour. He wanted to prove that people with disabilities can still accomplish great things, and hoped to inspire other disabled people to continue his work. Soon after he started his tour in Newfoundland (in honor of Terry Fox), he quickly became known through media coverage and Newfoundlanders had already donated over $97,000 within the first two days. He gained the support of many political leaders including Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who contributed a $1 million check to his movement. On May 22, 1987, Hansen and his team finished the tour in Vancouver, British Columbia. They had raised a total of over 26 million dollars for spinal cord research, rehabilitation and wheelchair sports.

Rick Hansen Foundation

Rick Hansen went on to continue his work as an activist for spinal cord injury and other disabilities, through the founding of the Rick Hansen Foundation. The Foundation was established a year after his Man In Motion World Tour, with the main goals of raising awareness and money for spinal cord research and care, as well as inspiring and changing attitudes of those with disabilities. In 2008, the Rick Hansen Institute was founded with the merging of the Spinal Cord Injury Solutions Alliance, the Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry and the Spinal Cord Injury Translational Research Network. The institute was founded with the specific goal of improving treatment, quality of life and reducing the severity of permanent paralysis for people suffering from spinal cord injuries.

References

“Rick Hansen.” Biography - Rick Hansen - Speak Truth to Power Canada, Canadian Teacher's Federation, 2020, https://sttpcanada.ctf-fce.ca/lessons/rick-hansen/bio/.
Freeborn, Jeremy. “Rick Hansen.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, The Canadian Encyclopedia, 24 Mar. 2008, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/rick-hansen.

Rick Hansen
Birth name	Richard Marvin Hansen
Nationality	Canadian
Born	August 26, 1957 (age 62) Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation	Disability activist, former paralympian
Spouse	Amanda Reid (m. 1987)
Country	Canada
Sport	Track and field