What was Rick Hansen's Man in Motion tour?

Rick Hansen's Man in Motion tour was the around-the-world wheelchair tour from March 21, 1985 to May 22, 1987 by Canadian wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen (born August 26, 1957) to raise awareness of and funds for spinal cord injury research and accessibility. Hansen wheeled 40,074 kilometres through 34 countries on four continents, raising about 26 million dollars at the time and over 350 million dollars cumulatively for spinal cord injury research and rehabilitation through the Rick Hansen Foundation. The tour was modelled after Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope and similarly became one of Canada's most celebrated acts of individual achievement.

Hansen was born in Port Alberni, British Columbia. He was paralysed from the waist down in a 1973 pickup-truck accident at age 15. He completed his education and became a competitive wheelchair athlete, winning gold medals at the 1979 Pan-American Para Games and at the 1984 Stoke Mandeville Games (the Paralympic-equivalent competition). Hansen had been close to Terry Fox, having shared physiotherapy sessions and rehabilitation at the Canadian Paraplegic Association after Fox's 1977 amputation. Fox's Marathon of Hope had inspired Hansen to plan an around-the-world wheelchair tour.

Hansen launched the Man in Motion tour on March 21, 1985 outside Oakridge Centre in Vancouver, BC. He traveled with a small support team in a rented RV. The first leg of the tour took him through the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, and continental Europe. He travelled through the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region (including China, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand), and back through North America. The second leg returned through the United States and across Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Hansen completed the Man in Motion tour on May 22, 1987 with a ceremonial wheel into Vancouver's BC Place Stadium, where he was greeted by about 50,000 spectators. The tour raised about 26 million dollars at the time, exceeding initial expectations. The tour generated extensive media coverage and transformed public attitudes toward people with disabilities. It also provided major federal stimulus to the development of spinal cord research at the Rick Hansen Institute and the development of accessibility infrastructure across Canada. Hansen established the Rick Hansen Foundation in 1988 (initially the Man in Motion Foundation, renamed in 1992). The Foundation has raised over 350 million dollars cumulatively for spinal cord injury research, rehabilitation, accessibility advocacy, and youth education. Hansen has been a Companion of the Order of Canada since 1987 and continues to lead the Foundation's ongoing work. The Rick Hansen Pavilion at Vancouver's BC Place is named in his honour.