Rick Hansen

Born in Port Alberni, British Columbia in 1957, Rick Hansen grew up in Williams Lake, British Columbia. He had an active childhood, where he played volleyball, baseball, softball and basketball. He often spent time outdoors with his father and grandfather who took him fishing. [4]

On June 27, 1973, Rick and a friend were riding in the back of a pickup truck when the driver lost control of the vehicle and hit a tree. The impact threw Rick and his friend from the vehicle, resulting in a spinal injury that left Rick paralyzed from the waist down.[5]

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 Paralympic athlete. He competed in wheelchair racing at both the 1980 and 1984 Summer Paralympics, winning a total of six medals; three gold, two silver, and one bronze.[6] Hansen won 19 international wheelchair marathons, including three world championships. He also coached high school basketball and volleyball. Rick had a very close relationship with his family, especially with his father and grandfather, with whom he enjoyed frequent fishing trips.

Upright Hansen's statue, in honour of his Man in Motion World Tour, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

In 1980, fellow British Columbian and Canadian athlete Terry Fox, who had lost a leg to bone cancer, undertook the Marathon of Hope, intending to run across Canada from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island to raise awareness for cancer research. He made it from St. John's, Newfoundland to Thunder Bay, Ontario, before a cancer recurrence forced him to stop, about half of the way through his journey. Inspired by Terry's courage, Hansen decided to undertake a similar journey to prove the potential of people with disabilities and to inspire a more accessible world. But his planned path was far more ambitious: he planned to circle the world in his wheelchair.

In UBC Biomechanics Lab, preparing for tour

He embarked on his Man in Motion World 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 40,075 km [7] through 34 countries on four continents before crossing Canada. He averaged 8 hours of wheeling and 85 km a day.[8] His highest summit was in the Swiss Alps at 5,577 ft.[9] 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 an international hero.

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 honour by Canadian record producer and composer David Foster and British musician John Parr, and performed by Parr for the soundtrack of the film St. Elmo's Fire. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in September 1985.

Hansen carries the Olympic flame into BC Place Stadium during the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony

Hansen speaks to the crowd at the BC Place Stadium during the 2010 Winter Paralympics opening ceremony

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

ICORD, Blusson Spinal Cord Centre and Rick Hansen Institute

Rick Hansen in August 2008.

Hansen was noted as "the driving force" in the development of the 48 million dollars raised for the International Collaboration of Repair Discoveries (ICORD), an information network designed to track and record "best practices" in spinal cord treatment across the country and internationally. ICORD also maintains 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.[15]

ICORD is located inside the Blusson Spinal Cord Centre, which is also 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, as well as the Rick Hansen Institute (formerly the Spinal Cord Injuries Solutions Network).

The building was designed to be fully accessible, with no need to display the wheelchair disability sign, and integrates research with care.

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 disabilities.

On June 23, 2013, Vancouver Sun columnist David Baines published a lengthy and detailed investigative story about the finances of Hansen and his various foundations and groups. The article, entitled "Behind the Rick Hansen Foundation: Charity's Financial Stewardship Questioned" reveals, among other things, that "in 2009, Hansen donated rights to his name [to the Rick Hansen Foundation] for $1.8 million. In return, he received a $1.8-million tax receipt." It also states that Hansen's salary prior to resigning from his positions as president and CEO in 2011 was "more than $400,000 a year; how much more is not clear."[19]

After his 2011 resignation, he became co-chairman of the foundation (with Lyall Knott) and re-structured his relationship with the foundation by having it create the 'Rick Hansen Leadership Group,' a not-for-profit society that "is technically controlled by the foundation but headed by Hansen and includes two assistants". That restructuring "removed Hansen from the foundation's direct payroll. Instead of paying him directly, the foundation now pays him indirectly through the leadership group"; as a consequence, the foundation does not report any compensation level for him in its CRA returns.

• 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)

• Special Achievement Award, University of British Columbia (1979–1982)
• "Outstanding Athlete of the Year," by Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association (1980)
• Lou Marsh Trophy, auxiliary award of special merit winner (1982)[20]
• 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 (June 29, 1987)
• Order of British Columbia (1990)
• Terry Fox Hall of Fame (1993)
• W.A.C. Bennett Award (BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum) (1994)
• Induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (2006)[1]
• Canada's Walk of Fame (2007)
• Recipient of CPA Alberta's Christopher Reeve Award (2007)
• UBC Sports Hall of Fame
• Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Alberta (2011)
• 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)
• William Van Horne Visionary Award (2006)
• 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)
• Royal Bank Award (1994)
• University of British Columbia Athletic Hall of Fame (1994)
• Honorary Doctor of Laws, Saint Mary's University (1993)
• Honorary Doctor of Laws, UBC (1987)
• People in Motion, a not-for-profit organization was named after Hansen
• Four 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
  • Rick Hansen Public School, Aurora, Ontario

• Honorary Colonel of the Canadian Forces Joint Personnel Support Unit (2012–Present)
• Honorary Director, Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation (2002)
• Honorary Board member, Think First Foundation (1998–2000)
• Honorary Chair, Brain and Spinal Cord Research Centre Campaign, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia (1995)
• Honorary Patron, B.C. Aboriginal Network on Disability Society (1995–Present)
• Honorary Chair, Grey Cup Festival (1994)
• Honorary Chair, Active Living Alliance for Canadians with a Disability (1990–Present)
• Honorary Chair, Alberta Premier's Advisory Council for Persons with Disabilities (1989–Present)
• Honorary Chair, BC Premier's Advisory Council for Persons with Disabilities (1989–Present)

Hansen 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.

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.

Hansen and his wife Amanda Reid first met during his Man in Motion World Tour as she was his physiotherapist. They married in 1987 and have three daughters.[22][23][24]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rick Hansen.

• Official website - Rick Hansen Foundation
• CBC Digital Archives – Rick Hansen: Man In Motion
• Rick Hansen at IMDb
• Praxis Spinal Cord Institute - Previously the Rick Hansen Institute