Rick Hansen
Rick Hansen is a notable Canadian Paralympian and advocate for disability rights, renowned for his significant contributions to raising awareness and funding for spinal-cord research. After suffering a spinal-cord injury at the age of fifteen, Hansen went on to achieve remarkable success in wheelchair athletics, securing six Paralympic medals and winning numerous international wheelchair marathons. His athletic achievements and determination have provided inspiration to many individuals with disabilities.
From 1985 to 1987, Hansen completed the "Man in Motion" World Tour, a groundbreaking two-year journey in which he traveled approximately 40,000 kilometers across four continents by wheelchair. This initiative raised over $26 million for spinal-cord research and aimed to shift public perceptions regarding disabilities. In 1988, he founded the Rick Hansen Foundation, which has raised more than $250 million to support spinal-cord injury initiatives and promote accessibility.
Hansen's legacy includes various accolades, such as his induction into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and recognition as a companion of the Order of Canada. Beyond his foundation work, he also engages in environmental conservation, demonstrating a commitment to diverse causes. Hansen lives in British Columbia with his wife and three daughters, continuing to inspire through his advocacy and personal endeavors.
Rick Hansen
Athlete
- Born: August 26, 1957
- Place of Birth: Port Alberni, British Columbia
Contribution: Rick Hansen is a Canadian Paralympian and an activist for disabled rights. Paralyzed at the age of fifteen as the result of a spinal-cord injury, he achieved substantial athletic success, providing hope and inspiration to individuals with disabilities. His two-year tour, in which he traveled by wheelchair throughout four continents, raised millions of dollars for spinal-cord research and helped change public perception of people with disabilities.
Early Life and Education
Richard Marvin Hansen was born on August 26, 1957, in British Columbia’s waterfront city of Port Alberni. With a love of sports, a competitive spirit, and a soaring athletic ability, Hansen excelled at numerous sports during his childhood and dreamed of representing Canada at the Olympics. At fifteen, however, during the drive home from a fishing trip, Hansen was involved in a serious automobile accident and sustained a critical injury to his spinal cord. He suffered paralysis from the waist down and never walked again.
Despite his injury, Hansen was determined to continue leading a full and active life. After a period of rehabilitation, he began his studies in 1976 at the University of British Columbia, where he discovered wheelchair sports. He graduated with a degree in physical education, the first student with a disability to graduate with such a degree.
WorldRenowned Athlete
Throughout his university years and beyond, Hansen succeeded in becoming a world-renowned athlete. He has won numerous awards and distinctions, including six Paralympic medals in wheelchair racing, nineteen international wheelchair marathons, and medals in various other wheelchair sports.
Hansen has received a large number of honorary degrees and appointments. He was named the Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association’s Outstanding Athlete of the Year in 1980, was made a companion of the Order of Canada in 1987, was inducted into the Order of British Columbia in 1990, and was named to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Man in Motion World Tour
On March 21, 1985, Hansen departed on his legendary Man in Motion World Tour with the goal of raising money for spinal-cord research and making society more open to individuals with disabilities. For twenty-six months, he traveled the world by wheelchair, covering forty thousand kilometers across thirty-four countries in four continents. The journey raised more than $26 million for spinal-cord research, rehabilitation efforts, and wheelchair sports.
March 21, 2010, marked the start of a twenty-six-months-long celebration in honor of the tour’s twenty-fifth anniversary, including the Rick Hansen Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Relay. In this nine-month relay, which began on August 24, 2011, more than seven thousand participants retraced the Canadian portion of the Man in Motion World Tour from Newfoundland to British Columbia, covering twelve thousand kilometers and visiting more than six hundred communities. In 2020, the Canadian Museum of History announced that acquisition of the Rick Hansen Man In Motion World Tour Collection. The collection included more than 1,700 objects, videos, and documents from the tour.
Rick Hansen Foundation
Following the Man in Motion World Tour, Hansen established the Rick Hansen Foundation. In the first twenty-five years of its existence, the foundation raised more than $250 million to fund various initiatives related to spinal-cord injuries. In 2009, the foundation established the Rick Hansen Institute, which works to aid collaboration between scientists and medical doctors in order to better research and treat spinal-cord injuries.
Hansen resigned from his position as president and CEO of the Rick Hansen Foundation in 2011. He then became cochair of the foundation’s board of directors, along with Lyall Knott, and created the Rick Hansen Leadership Group, through which he pursues other interests not directly related to the foundation’s goals. Notable among these other interests is Hansen’s work on behalf of fish conservation; he created the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society in 1997 and the Pacific Salmon Endowment Fund Society in 2001.
Personal Life
Hansen is married to Amanda Reid, a physiotherapist whom he met in 1984 after injuring his shoulder. They have three daughters.
Bibliography
“About Rick Hansen.” Rick Hansen Foundation. Rick Hansen Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 Aug. 2013.
Colpitts, Heather. “Rick Hansen Foundation: Many in Motion.” Province [Vancouver]. Postmedia Network, 15 May 2012. Web. 27 Aug. 2013.
Drake, Tracey. “Rick Hansen: The Man, the Olympian, the Difference Maker.” Homes & Living Vancouver Oct.–Nov. 2012: 28–34. Print.
Hansen, Rick. “How I Did It: Rick Hansen.” Business in Vancouver. Business in Vancouver, 3 July 2012. Web. 27 Aug. 2013.
Picard, André. “Rick Hansen Is Back in Motion—25 Years Later.” Globe and Mail. Globe and Mail, 24 Aug. 2011. Web. 27 Aug. 2013.
"Rick Hansen." Canadian Museum of History, 2020, www.historymuseum.ca/rickhansen/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.
Rockel, Nick. “Rick Hansen, a Man Still in Motion.” Globe and Mail. Globe and Mail, 30 Nov. 2010. Web. 27 Aug. 2013.