Rick Hansen
Richard Marvin Hansen (born August 26, 1957 in Port Alberni , British Columbia ) is a Canadian disabled athlete who supports people with spinal cord injuries . Rick Hansen, who was injured in his spinal cord in a car accident at the age of 15, is best known for his Man In Motion World Tour . He was one of the torchbearers at the 2010 Olympics .
Life
Born in Port Alberni, Rick Hansen grew up in Williams Lake . He was active in sports and won prizes in five sports. At the age of 15, he was seriously injured and completely paralyzed in a traffic accident . He did a thorough rehabilitation and became the first physically challenged student to graduate from the University of British Columbia as a physical education teacher in 1986.
He won national Canadian championships in wheelchair volleyball and wheelchair basketball . He became one of the world's best wheelchair marathon athletes and took part in two Paralympics ; at the 1980 Summer Paralympics and the 1984 Summer Paralympics , he won three gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze. He has won 19 international wheelchair marathons, including three world championships. He also trained basketball and volleyball teams in high school.
Rick Hansen is the President and CEO of the Rick Hansen Foundation, which provided more than $ 200,000,000 in spinal cord injury treatment programs. He has been called "the driving force" in the development of the international information network iCord-Houses; the network serves to research treatment methods. The Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry provides information on spinal cord injuries for doctors and experts.
As chairman of both the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society and the Pacific Salmon Endowment Fund Society , Rick Hansen helped protect British Columbia's sturgeon and salmon populations .
Man In Motion World Tour
In 1980 Terry Fox started the Marathon of Hope ; Inspired by this run of the cancer-stricken athlete, Rick Hansen decided to take a similar action to raise awareness of spinal cord injury research. His journey was to take him around the world in a wheelchair.
On March 21, 1985, he started his Man in Motion World Tour in Vancouver at the Oakridge Center. If public attention was still low at the beginning of the tour, Rick Hansen's tour soon attracted the attention of international media; in 26 months he covered more than 40,000 kilometers through 34 countries on four continents before returning to Vancouver on May 22, 1987, where he was greeted by thousands of spectators at BC Place Stadium . He raised $ 26 million for spinal cord research and community initiatives on his tour. Like Terry Fox, he was hailed as a national hero.
The wheelchair and many other items from the Man In Motion World Tour are on display in the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. David Foster composed the song St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) in honor of Rick Hansen's tour for the soundtrack of the film St. Elmo's Fire .
Awards and honors
- Special Achievement Award, University of British Columbia (1979–1982)
- Outstanding Athlete of the Year, Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association (1980)
- Lou Marsh / Canadian Outstanding Athlete of the Year Award; with 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, ABC Wide World of Sports (1983)
- British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame, WAC Bennett Award (1983)
- Newsmaker of the Year, Canadian Press (1986)
- Nomination for the Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award
- Companion of the Order of Canada (March 29, 1988)
- Order of British Columbia (1990)
- Terry Fox Hall of Fame (1993)
- WAC Bennett Award (BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum) (1994)
- 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
- William Van Horne Visionary Award (2006)
- Honorary doctorate:
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, UBC
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, Vancouver Island University (2009)
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, Carleton University (2009)
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, Simon Fraser University (2008)
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Northern British Columbia (2008)
- Honorary Doctor of Letters, Thompson Rivers University, Williams Lake Campus (2007)
- Honorary Doctor of Letters, McGill University (2005)
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, McMaster University (1999)
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Western Ontario (1997)
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Regina (1997)
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Toronto (1995)
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Victoria (1994)
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, Saint Mary's University (1993)
- Royal Bank Award (1994)
- University of British Columbia Athletic Hall of Fame (1994)
- Three schools were named after Rick Hansen:
- Rick Hansen Secondary School, Abbotsford, British Columbia
- Rick Hansen Secondary School, Mississauga, Ontario
- Rick Hansen Elementary School, London, Ontario
The township of Killarney, Ontario changed its name to the Township of Hansen in 1986.
Works
Hansen is the co-author of two books.
- Rick Hansen: Man in Motion , with Jim Taylor (1987), ISBN 0-88894-560-4
- Going the Distance: 7 Steps to Personal Change , with Dr. Joan foliage
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hansen, Rick |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hansen, Richard Marvin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian disabled athlete |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 26, 1957 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Port Alberni , British Columbia |