Rick Hansen
Autor: Katt123 • April 23, 2017 • Presentation or Speech • 661 Words (3 Pages) • 1,092 Views
Rick Hansen
My famous person is Rick Hansen. When he was only 16 years old, he got into an accident and broke his spine, which caused him to be paralyzed from the waist down. That meant he wasn't able to walk anymore. Since then he would get around by using a wheelchair. Rick Hansen is known for the Man-in-Motion world tour. He enrolled at the University of British Columbia in 1976, and was the first disabled person to graduate with a degree in Physical Education.
Rick was born on August 26th 1957, making him now 58 years old, in Port Alberni, British Columbia. Since of his accident at an early age, his disability made it difficult to have a job, but he did join the Vancouver Cablecars wheelchair basketball team. During that time he also became close friends with Terry Fox.
Ricks career manly focused on competing in the Pan Am games, Olympics, the Paralympics, and in many wheelchair marathons. Between 1979 and 1984 he has won 19 wheelchair marathons and a total of 12 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medals. He has also had a world tour to raise money. Now he is the CEO of his own company, the Rick Hansen Foundation.
Rick Hansen has positively impacted Canadian society because he raised a quarter of a billion dollars since he started the race for spinal cord research. With his tour he wanted to prove to Canadians that it is possible to do great things even if they have a disability. He wanted to prove that people with disabilities have a potential in life. He showed that nothing can stop you from doing what you want, not even a disability.
He started his mission as an “active citizen” in Canadian society when he started the Man-in-Motion tour on March 22nd 1985. The tour traveled through 34 countries including Canada, United States, Britain, Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, Australia, and New Zealand. With this two year world tour he was recognized by millions and raised a quarter of a billion dollars for spinal cord research.
Rick Hansen should be considered the “Greatest Canadian” because he raised over a quarter of a billion dollars for spinal cord research. He also showed how it is possible to do anything you would like and that nothing should stop you from doing so, even a disability. He proved that it is possible to do great things even when you have a disability.
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