Rick Hansen

Rick Hansen, O.C., O.B.C., (born August 26, 1957, Port Alberni, British Columbia) is a Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian most famous for his Man in Motion tour, in which he circumnavigated the globe in a wheelchair to raise public awareness of spinal cord research.

Awards and honours

Hansen shared the Canadian Athlete of the Year Award with Wayne Gretzky in 1983. In 1986, a private member's bill in the Ontario legislature renamed a remote township in Sudbury District, Ontario, previously named the Geographical Township of Stalin, in the athlete's honour as the Geographic Township of Hansen. (It is now within the boundaries of the municipality of Killarney.) Hansen became a companion of the Order of Canada on March 29, 1988. He was named commissioner general for the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 1990 in Australia.

Related Topics:
Canadian Athlete of the Year - Wayne Gretzky - 1983 - 1986 - Private member's bill - Ontario legislature - Township - Sudbury District, Ontario - Stalin - Township of Hansen - Killarney - Order of Canada - March 29 - 1988 - Expo 1990 - Australia

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• Order of Canada
• Order of British Columbia
• National Disabled Athlete of the Year in 1979
• Lou Marsh Trophy (with Wayne Gretzky) as Canada's Outstanding Athlete of 1983
• Doctor of Laws from UBC
• first incumbent of the Rick Hansen National Fellowship.
• two public schools have been named after Rick Hansen:
• Rick Hansen Secondary School, Abbotsford, British Columbia, and
• Rick Hansen Secondary School, Mississauga, Ontario
• WAC Bennett Award (BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum)