History of rick hansen
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Rick's Story
Rick Hansen is born in Port Alberni, BC, and grows up in Fort St. John, Abbotsford, and Williams Lake, BC.
On the way home from a fishing trip, Rick and his friend Don Alder are in a car accident and are thrown from the back of a pickup truck. Rick injures his spinal cord and is paralyzed from the waist down.
Rick’s dad and his brother Brad take Rick fishing for the first time after his accident.
Returning home from rehabilitation, Rick is encouraged by his volleyball coach Bob Redford to get involved in wheelchair sports.
Rick was recruited to play wheelchair basketball by Stan Strong for the Vancouver Cable Cars
Rick enrolls at the University of British Columbia. He later becomes the first person with a physical disability to graduate with a degree in Physical Education.
Rick recruited Terry Fox to join the Vancouver Cable Cars to play on their wheelchair basketball team. They became good
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About Rick
Rick Hansen is the Founder of the Rick Hansen Foundation and a passionate supporter of people with disabilities in Canada. Rick is best known as the “Man In Motion” for his epic 26-month, 34 country, 40,000 km wheelchair trip around the world to make the world inclusive for people with disabilities and to find a cure for paralysis.
Since the end of the Man In Motion World Tour in 1987, Rick has dedicated his life to creating a world that is accessible and inclusive for all by removing barriers for people with disabilities through the Rick Hansen Foundation. Rick and his grupp at the Foundation are dedicated to raising awareness, changing attitudes, helping create accessible spaces, and liberating the fantastisk potential of people with disabilities.
Want to know more about Rick?
Learn about his personal story, explore the Man In Motion Word Tour archive, find out about his special awards and honours, and discover his inspiration and motivation below.
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Rick Hansen is a Paralympic athlete and the founder of the Rick Hansen Foundation, an organization that removes barriers for people with disabilities by changing attitudes, creating accessible spaces and inspiring an inclusive society.
Born in 1957 in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Hansen grew up with ambitions for professional sport. On his way home from a fishing trip, 15-year-old Hansen suffered a spinal cord injury when he was thrown from the back of a pickup truck. The accident left him paralysed from the waist down. With support and motivation from various mentors, Hansen returned to sport less than a year later, and attended the University of British Columbia, where he became the first person with a disability to graduate with a degree in physical education.
Between 1979 and 1984, Hansen won 19 international wheelchair marathons, four world titles, and nine Pan American Wheelchair gold medals. In 1984, he represented Canada at the Summer Paralympic Games. He w