Скачать или смотреть The journey toward inclusion and accessibility | Rick Hansen

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Rick Hansen is a Canadian icon who has dedicated his life to creating a world that is accessible and inclusive for all. Best known as the “Man In Motion” for undertaking an epic two-year circumnavigation around the world in his wheelchair, Rick is also a three-time world champion, nine-time Pan Am gold medalist, and two-time Paralympic gold medalist. Now the CEO of the Rick Hansen Foundation, an organization committed to creating a world without barriers for people with disabilities, Rick uses his presentations to challenge everyone to become a difference maker and a legacy leaver.

When Rick was just 15 years old, his life as he then knew it changed forever. Sustaining a spinal cord injury from a horrific truck accident, Rick was paralyzed from the waist down and learned he would never walk again. After seven months of rehabilitation, Rick had to learn how to deal with his new life, which was full of challenges. With determination, a sense of humour, and a lot of heart, he found a way to keep doing the things he loved, and began to make new dreams.

In 1976, Rick enrolled in the University of British Columbia, fitting his school work in around his many athletic competitions in wheelchair track. The winner of 19 international wheelchair marathons, four world titles, and nine gold medals at the 1982 Pan Am Games, Rick also won a gold and silver medal at the 1984 Paralympic Summer Games, and a gold, silver and bronze at the 1980 Paralympic Summer Games. Through UBC, Rick became the first person with a disability to earn a degree in Physical Education.

With nothing but a vision, a trailer, and a passionate team of supporters, Rick pushed his wheelchair out of Vancouver on March 22, 1985, to set out on the journey that would make history. His Man In Motion World Tour was fueled by two big dreams: to prove the potential of people with disabilities, and to make communities more accessible and inclusive. Rick wheeled through 34 countries before returning to North America on May 22, 1987. The Tour raised $26 million and became a catalyst for enormous change in the way people with disabilities were perceived.

Since then, through The Rick Hansen Foundation, Rick and his supporters have raised nearly $300 million over the past thirty years in investments for individuals, families, and workplaces to remove physical, social, economic, and attitudinal barriers so everyone can actively participate and make a meaningful contribution in their community.

Rick is the recipient of many awards and honours, including the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal; the Christopher Reeve Award; the CPA Alberta Canada’s Walk of Fame award; Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame – William Van Horne Visionary Award; the Athlete of the Century award from the British Columbia Wheelchair Sports Companion; and the Order of Canada.