Rick Hansen

Rick Hansen was an angel sent by God for people in wheelchairs. Rick was born August 26, 1957. He is raising money for Spinal Cord Research. Rick Hansen had a spinal cord injury himself and is in a wheelchair. He was injured in a car crash at age 15 that paralyzed him from the waist down. After his crash he decided to help other people with spinal cord injuries.

Rick Hansen was inspired by Canadian athlete Terry Fox who had one leg and tried to go across Canada to raise awareness for cancer research. Rick Hansen started his Man in Motion World Tour in March of 1985. The Tour lasted 26 months and crossed 34 countries before crossing Canada. Rick Hansen completed the Tour on May of 1987. During this Tour he raised $26 million dollars for spinal cord research.

After his Man in Motion Tour, Rick Hansen has inspired other people and become a hero. He helped start a foundation in Vancouver General Hospital, it is called "i Cord" . i Cord tracks and records information from around the world on ways to treat spinal cord injuries. It also has a clinic that helps people with spinal cord injuries. Rick Hansen's Wheels In Motion program is there too.

Rick Hansen was a torch bearer in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Rick competes in the winter and summer paraolympics. He won a total of three gold, two silver and one bronze medal in 1980 and 1984. He competes in wheelchair volleyball and basketball, he also is a world class wheelchair marathoner. He is now also coaching high school basketball and volleyball. He inspires me by making me want to do better in sports and know I know that people in wheelchairs can do lots of things. If someone in a wheelchair asked me to play basketball, I would say, "Sure, let's play".

My opinions on Rick Hansen are that he is a really nice guy. He is probably one of my top 5 heroes. He is so strong because he went around the world in his wheelchair. Then he is so outgoing that if he comes over to play basketball then I will definitely say YES! He will definitely be one of my heroes forever.