The true story of Rick Hansen's journey around the world
in a wheelchair powered by nothing but the strength in his arms and
the determination in his heart. He was an athlete facing a challenge
and hoping that along the way he could raise awareness of the
potential of people with disabilities, and raise money to fund spinal
cord research, rehabilitation and awareness. If someone had told him
that, two years later, he'd be a national hero and a symbol of hope
for people everywhere, he'd have laughed. As it turned out, they
underestimated... A motivational account of the success of Rick's Man
in Motion World Tour, the value of leadership, teamwork, and the
strength of human spirit.
The sign stretched above the finish line of Rick Hansen's epic 24,901.55 mile wheelchair journey around the world read: "The End is Just the beginning."
He didn't believe it, couldn't believe it. After better than two years on the road, his mind and body had nothing left to give. It was time to get on with his life. Get married. Find a job.
But the sign was correct. Pushing that wheelchair down endless highways, over mountains, across deserts and even up the Great Wall of China, had raised hopes among the disabled, awareness among the disabled, and some $20 million - but unless it was a stepping stone toward greater goals in research and rehabilitation, the benefits of the Man in Motion World Tour could be short-term.
That was the challenge. Hansen was the logical catalyst. And thus the dream that was supposed to be completed as he crossed that finish line extended through and past the next decade.
By now, the world knows the Rick Hansen story, the tale of a carefree, sports-loving teenager who hitched a ride home from a fishing trip, was hurled from the back of the truck as it went out of control, and woke up a paraplegic.
All the heartbreaking, funny and gutsy stories of his road back: the painful days and frightening nights in hospital, the disbelief, the acceptance, the numbing months of rehabilitation, the competitiveness that drove him to become a world wheelchair-sports champion.
And the tour: The clearly impossible, can't-be-done, are-you-out-of-your-mind dream of pushing a wheelchair around the world that became an odyssey and a love story, and turned a kid from William's Lake, B.C., into a national legend.
The stories come alive again on these pages, along with a special look by Rick Hansen at the post-tour decade and the road ahead for a legend turned family man, who discovered that the end really was just the beginning, after all.
