Rick Hansen

His highest summit was in the Swiss Alps at 5,577 ft (1700 metres).

Richard Marvin Hansen (born August 26, 1957) is a Canadian track and field athlete (Paralympic Games), activist, and philanthropist for people with disabilities.

Following a pickup truck crash at the age of 15, Hansen sustained a spinal cord injury and became a paraplegic.

Hansen is most famous for his Man in Motion World Tour, in which he circled the globe in a wheelchair to raise funds for charity.

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.

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.

He worked on rehabilitation, completed high school, and 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.

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.

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 halfway 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.

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 through 34 countries on four continents (North America, Europe, Oceania, and Asia) before crossing Canada.

He averaged 8 hours of wheeling and 85 km a day.

It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in September 1985.

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

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.

He was one of the final torchbearers in the 1988 Winter Olympics and the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The Hansen Foundation was established in 1988, following the completion of Rick Hansen's Man in Motion World Tour, to continue raising funds and awareness to create a world without barriers for people with disabilities.

For nearly 30 years, the Foundation has been actively improving the lives of people with disabilities, changing perceptions and breaking down barriers.

The vision of the organization is to create an inclusive world where people with disabilities can reach their full potential.

Through programs, collaboration and leadership, the Foundation has increased awareness and solutions for the barriers people with disabilities face, created more accessible spaces, improved the quality of life and health outcomes for people with spinal cord injuries, mobility issues and other disabilities.

In addition, the Foundation operates three major programs.

The Rick Hansen School Program is designed for students from grades one to twelve, and teaches inclusiveness, disability awareness and leadership.

He was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.

He was profiled and spoke during the 2010 Winter Paralympics opening ceremony.

Meanwhile, an online accessibility-related travel tool and consumer ratings guide called planat was also launched in 2011.

The Foundation also provides Quality of Life grants to recipients every year.