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Cover Story
Rick Hansen
Founder of the Vancouver , Canada-based
Rick Hansen Foundation , Rick is passionate in his pursuit of a better life for people with disabilities . He is well-known for his 1985-1987 Man in Motion World Tour , a 40,000 km wheelchair marathon that covered 34 countries , raising $ 26 million for Spinal Cord Injury research and to create an accessible , inclusive world ..
Mélange sat down with Rick to speak about his Foundation and vision for a world with no barriers .
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I think we need a more sophisticated version of what I did , something to connect the world . . . to create a movement that would capture attention and imagination with global participation , connectivity and sustainability to accelerate progress and grab the interest of the more socially conscious next generation to bring them into the conversation . . .
What was your inspiration for the Man in Motion World Tour ?
From my early years , I had no reference to disability . All my life was defined by physical ability as an athlete dreaming of one day being able to represent my country at the Olympic Games . Then , suddenly in 1973 , I found myself paralyzed after a car accident and told I ' d never walk again . That challenged my internal barriers , attitudes , perceptions and stereotypes . I was handicapped more than I was disabled , by my medical condition , and I had to really fight against that . Role models , mentors and people who have been there before showed me that people can actually still live whole , full lives , in spite of not having the ability to use their legs , or have another type of disability . That internal process made me realize that people with disabilities faced a lot of attitudinal barriers . I was also facing social barriers by family , friends and the community which made it even harder to struggle against . And then , there were the physical barriers . Those were interesting journeys as I went through my life .
Later , travelling the world , representing my country as a Paralympic athlete , everywhere I went I met incredible people . Some had visual , hearing , mobility challenges and they all said the same thing – that they have struggled with their own internal conditions , they fought upstream against attitudinal barriers and when they tried to perform , they had to go through physical barriers , so that experience made me realize that I