Exactly twenty-five years ago to the day, Rick Hansen completed his heroic around-the-world "Man In Motion" tour to benefit spinal cord injury research. Today, he was back in Vancouver to re-create the ending of his monumental achievement: to circle the globe in his wheelchair, a journey where he personally wheeled over 40,000 km through 34 countries from 1985 to 1987.
The other day, Rick Hansen was in Port Coquitlam, a city to which Rick shares a special connection. Port Coquitlam is the birthplace of Terry Fox, the one-legged athelete who dreamed of running across Canada to raise money to cure cancer. Tragically, Terry's journey was cut short by his disease, which eventually claimed his life. Others such as Steve Fonyo and Rick Hansen were inspired by Terry Fox's goal to complete their own tours.
Rick claimed that the two most difficult parts of his journey were navigating the Great Wall Of China, and climbing Thermal Hill here in nearby Coquitlam. Heartbreaking video footage shows Rick powering forward a six inches at a time uphill, then his wheels losing traction and the chair sliding downhill a foot.
Today, Rick is more upbeat about the climb, although it was likely as hard for him to make it to the top of Thermal Hill this week as it was twenty-five years ago. It's a devilish incline.
"It starts off easy," Rick told a local reporter, "Just a gentle slope at first. The first time around, I figured no problem. Then it got steep in a hurry." Witnesses remarked that if Rick leaned back so much as an inch, he likely would have tipped his wheelchair over.
Rick continued, "I poured everything I had into that climb. Finally, I made it to the level part at the top of the slope. There was a bend in the road there. I got around that and looked up... there was even more hill than before! I wasn't even halfway up! My heart nearly exploded when I saw that."
I don't know what physical reserves Rick Hansen had to call upon for his climb, yet I took the liberty of depicting Terry Fox giving him a hand up Coquitlam's Thermal Hill. I figure that if the two had met, maybe they would be okay with that. Maybe not, though. Both atheletes transformed their tours into deeply personal crusuades. Perhaps it's too easy for the artist to lionize the athelete.
Also, would Terry Fox as a guiding spirit still keep his artificial leg? In truth, I would hope not. However, for the sake of artistic composition, I included Terry's machine leg to make him more identifiable.
Through JSVB, I offer my congratulations to Rick Hansen on the success of his tour, both twenty-five years ago and now. From what I know of Rick Hansen, he refused that anybody should help him move in his chair. Like Terry Fox, he had a trustworthy and loving support team to look out for him on his journey, but like Terry, he insisted on taking every inch of the path on his own terms.
For a JSVB post on Terry Fox, please click here.
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