Rick Hansen

Canadian paraplegic athlete and activist Rick Hansen in 2008.

Richard M. Hansen, CC, OBC (born August 26, 1957) is a Canadian paraplegic athlete and activist for people with spinal cord injuries. Following a car crash at the age of 15, Hansen sustained a spinal cord injury that paralyzed him from the waist down. Hansen is most famous for his Man In Motion World Tour.

Early life

Born in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Hansen grew up in Williams Lake, British Columbia. As a young athlete, he had won all-star awards in five sports when he was paralyzed at the age of 15 from being in the back of a truck when it crashed into another car. He worked on rehabilitation, completed high school, then became the first student with a physical disability to graduate in physical education from the University of British Columbia. Hansen won national championships on wheelchair volleyball and wheelchair basketball teams. He went on to become a world class champion wheelchair marathoner and 1980 Summer Paralympics athlete (where he won gold in the 800m). Hansen won 19 international wheelchair marathons, including three world championships. He also coached high school basketball and volleyball. Rick lived with both of his parents. Rick had a very close relationship with his family, especially with his father and grandfather, with whom he enjoyed frequent fishing trips.

Man In Motion World Tour

Rick Hansen's statue, in honor of his Man In Motion World Tour, at GM Place.

He embarked on his Man in Motion tour on March 21, 1985 from Oakridge Mall in Vancouver. Although public attention was low at the beginning of the tour, he soon attracted international media attention as he progressed on a 26-month trek, logging over 40,000 km through 34 countries on four continents before crossing Canada. He returned to Vancouver's BC Place Stadium to cheering crowds of thousands on May 22, 1987 after raising $26 million for spinal cord research and quality of life initiatives. Like Terry Fox, he was hailed as a national hero. That was when he started his Canada World tour.

Today, the wheelchair and many other items associated with the Man In Motion World Tour are preserved by the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. The song "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" was written in his honor by fellow British Columbian David Foster and performed by John Parr for the soundtrack of the film St. Elmo's Fire. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.

Heart of a Dragon, www.heartofadragonmovie.com, is the soon to be released film based on Rick's man in motion tour.Over twenty years ago, Michael French flew with a film crew from Vancouver, British Columbia to Beijing and documented Rick's extroadinary entrance into Beijing with over 1 million Chinese heralding his arrival as a hero.

Post-tour career & personal

Hansen is currently president and CEO of the Rick Hansen Foundation, which has generated more than $200 million for spinal cord injury related programs and initiatives.

Hansen was noted as "the driving force" in the development of the $48 million International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (iCORD), a new spinal cord facility. His foundation donated the final $8 million needed to complete the centre, expected to open in 2008 at Vancouver General Hospital. iCORD will house an old information network designed to track and record "best practices" in spinal cord treatment across the country and internationally, as well as the Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry, allowing doctors and experts across the country to share vital information on what works and what doesn't for specific kinds of spinal cord injuries. ^[1]

The Blusson Spinal Cord Centre is fully accessible, with no need to display the wheelchair disability sign, and integrates research with care. The centre is home to the Brenda and David McLean Integrated Spine Clinic, which provides one-stop outpatient care for people with spinal cord injuries or diseases of the spine. Rick Hansen Foundation programs including the Spinal Cord Injuries Solutions Network and the Rick Hansen Wheels In Motion and Ambassador programs are also located in the centre.

The Province has previously contributed $17.25 million to spinal cord injury research and quality of life – $2.25 million to the B.C. Leadership Chair in Spinal Cord Research at the Rick Hansen Institute at UBC and $15 million to the Rick Hansen Foundation in support of its ongoing work to help improve the lives of people with spinal cord injuries.

Rick has served as chair of both the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society and the Pacific Salmon Endowment Fund Society, helping to restore and protect sturgeon and salmon populations in British Columbia.

Hansen married Amanda Reid, his former physiotherapist. They have three daughters: Emma, Alana and Rebecca, and live in Richmond, BC.

Education Background

Bachelor of Physical Education, 1986 University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Professional Background

President and CEO, Rick Hansen Foundation (1997 - Present) National Fellow, Rick Hansen National Fellow Programme, University of British Columbia (1990 - Present) Consultant on Disability Issues to the President University of British Columbia (1989 - 1991) Commissioner General to Canada Pavilion at World Exposition '88 in Brisbane, Australia (1987- 1988)

Memberships

Member, Living Rivers Trust Fund Advisory Board (2005 - Present) Interim Chair, Pacific Salmon Endowment Fund Society (2000 - Present) Member, Board of Directors, Rick Hansen Institute (1997- Present) Chair, Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society (1996 - Present) Member, Board of Directors, Rick Hansen Foundation (1993 - 1999) Member, Board of Trustees, Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation (1992 - 2000) International Advisory Committee for Globe '92, Congress and Exposition on the Environment (1991 - 1992) Chair, International Committee on Integration of Disabled Athletes (Renamed: Commission for the Inclusion of Athletes with Disabilities) (1990 - Present) Chair, Advisory Committee of the Disability Resource Centre, University of British Columbia (1990 - 1997) Chair, Independence 92 - International Congress and Exposition on Disability, Vancouver, British Columbia (1990 - 1992) Member, Board of Directors, Nike Canada (1989 - 2004) Partner/Advisor, National Access Awareness Week, Canada (1989 - 1999) International Advisory Committee for Globe '90, Congress and Exposition on the Environment (1989 - 1990) Member, Board of Governors, 1994 Commonwealth Games, Victoria (1989 - 1994) Advisory Panel, Man In Motion Legacy Trust Fund (1987 - Present) Member, Board of Directors, Man In Motion World Tour Society (1987 - 1992) Member, Board of Directors (Honourary), Man In Motion World Tour (1986 - 1987)

Awards and honours

• Special Achievement Award, University of British Columbia (1979 - 1982)
• "Outstanding Athlete of the Year," by Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association (1980)
• Lou Marsh/Canadian Outstanding Athlete of the Year Award; co-winner, Wayne Gretzky (1983)
• Outstanding Young Person of the World for personal improvement and accomplishment by Junior Chamber International (1983)
• University of British Columbia's Alumni Award of Distinction (1983)
• Athlete of the Week: by ABC Wide World of Sports (1983)
• British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame, W.A.C. Bennett Award (1983)
• Newsmaker of the Year by Canadian Press (1986)
• Companion of the Order of Canada (March 29, 1988)
• Order of British Columbia (1990)
• W.A.C. Bennett Award (BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum) (1994)
• Induction into Canada Sports Hall of FameCanada's Sports Hall of Fame (2006)
• Canada's Walk of Fame (2007)
• Recipient of CPA Alberta's Christopher Reeve Award (2007)
• UBC Sports Hall of Fame
• Honourary Doctor of Laws, UBC
• Honourary Doctor of Laws, Vancouver Island University (2009)
• Honourary Doctor of Laws, Carleton University (2009)
• Honourary Doctor of Laws, Simon Fraser University (2008)
• Honourary Doctor of Laws, University of Northern British Columbia (2008)
• Honourary Doctor of Letters, Thompson Rivers University, Williams Lake Campus(2007)
• William Van Horne Visionary Award (2006)
• Honourary Doctor of Letters, McGill University (2005)
• Honourary Doctor of Laws, McMaster University (1999)
• Honourary Doctor of Laws, University of Western Ontario (1997)
• Honourary Doctor of Laws, University of Regina (1997)
• Honourary Doctor of Laws, University of Toronto (1995)
• Honourary Doctor of Laws, University of Victoria (1994)
• Royal Bank Award (1994)
• University of British Columbia Athletic Hall of Fame (1994)
• Honourary Doctor of Laws, Saint Mary's University (1993)
• Three public schools have been named after Hansen:
  • Rick Hansen Secondary School, Abbotsford, British Columbia
  • Rick Hansen Secondary School, Mississauga, Ontario
  • Rick Hansen Elementary School, London, Ontario

Honourary Appointments

• Honourary Director, Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation (2002)
• Honourary Board Member, Think First Foundation (1998 - 2000)
• Honourary Chair, Brain and Spinal Cord Research Centre Campaign, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia (1995)
• Honourary Patron, B.C. Aboriginal Network on Disability Society (1995 - Present)
• Honourary Chair, Grey Cup Festival (1994)
• Honourary Chair, Active Living Alliance for Canadians with a Disability (1990 - Present)
• Honourary Chair, Alberta Premier's Advisory Council for Persons with Disabilities (1989 - Present)
• Honourary Chair, BC Premier's Advisory Council for Persons with Disabilities (1989 - Present)

Rick was named Commissioner General for the Canadian Pavilion at Expo '88 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In 1986, a township in Sudbury District, Ontario, previously named the Geographical Township of Stalin, altered its name to the Township of Hansen in the athlete's honour. It is now within the boundary of the municipality of Killarney.

Books

Hansen is the co-author of two books: the autobiographical Rick Hansen: Man in Motion, written with Jim Taylor (published in 1987, ISBN 0-88894-560-4), and the self-help book Going the Distance: 7 steps to personal change, written with Dr. Joan Laub.

References

External links

• Rick Hansen Foundation official website
• BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum
• CBC Digital Archives – Rick Hansen: Man In Motion