[caption id="attachment_10555" align="alignnone" width="497"]
How he rolls. Looks like Hansen's statue is about to run the barricade.[/caption]
As I rode west along 10th Avenue I happened to spy a big hunk of something behind barricades and yellow caution tape in the little parking lot beside the Blusson Spinal Cord Centre. It was a very impressive statue of the famous wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen.
This was not a new statue; it had previously been featured on the grounds of Rogers Arena in downtown Vancouver. I had no idea why it was parked here, but here it was in stall 2524.
The larger-than-life size granite sculpture was carved by sculptor Bill Koochin in 1997 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the completion of Rick Hansen's Man in Motion World Tour.
Rich Hansen will always be remembered for circling the world in his wheelchair. His 26-month Man in Motion World Tour began in Vancouver in 1985 and took him through 34 countries and raised $26 million spinal cord injury research. He returned back to Vancouver in 1987 to a hero's welcome.
Hansen credits the example of B.C. athlete Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope run across Canada in 1980 for inspiring him.
Fox was forced to abandon his run to raise awareness for cancer research at the halfway point by a recurrence of bone cancer. His courage motivated Hansen to undertake his own journey for spinal cord injury research.
In the 27 years since the Man in Motion World Tour Rick Hansen has leveraged his fame to benefit spinal cord research in B.C. He founded the Rick Hansen Foundation which has a stated goal of finding a cure for spinal cord injuries and creating more accessible communities. Click the images to enlarge them.
[caption id="attachment_10556" align="alignnone" width="497"]
Rick still rocks! Even if people in B.C. do take him for granite.[/caption]
How he rolls. Looks like Hansen's statue is about to run the barricade.[/caption]As I rode west along 10th Avenue I happened to spy a big hunk of something behind barricades and yellow caution tape in the little parking lot beside the Blusson Spinal Cord Centre. It was a very impressive statue of the famous wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen.
This was not a new statue; it had previously been featured on the grounds of Rogers Arena in downtown Vancouver. I had no idea why it was parked here, but here it was in stall 2524.
The larger-than-life size granite sculpture was carved by sculptor Bill Koochin in 1997 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the completion of Rick Hansen's Man in Motion World Tour.
Why he'll always be the Man in Motion even when he's parked
Rich Hansen will always be remembered for circling the world in his wheelchair. His 26-month Man in Motion World Tour began in Vancouver in 1985 and took him through 34 countries and raised $26 million spinal cord injury research. He returned back to Vancouver in 1987 to a hero's welcome.
Hansen credits the example of B.C. athlete Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope run across Canada in 1980 for inspiring him.
Fox was forced to abandon his run to raise awareness for cancer research at the halfway point by a recurrence of bone cancer. His courage motivated Hansen to undertake his own journey for spinal cord injury research.
In the 27 years since the Man in Motion World Tour Rick Hansen has leveraged his fame to benefit spinal cord research in B.C. He founded the Rick Hansen Foundation which has a stated goal of finding a cure for spinal cord injuries and creating more accessible communities. Click the images to enlarge them.
[caption id="attachment_10556" align="alignnone" width="497"]
Rick still rocks! Even if people in B.C. do take him for granite.[/caption]
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