When Rick Hansen began competing as a world-class athlete in the mid-1970s, travelling was an almost unbearable ordeal. Travellers in wheelchairs were a rarity and there were barriers at every turn.
"Back then, the taxi drivers wouldn't pick us up because of the chairs. When you did make it to the airport, it was completely inaccessible. There were stairs everywhere. But then the real nightmare began: getting into the plane," Mr. Hansen said in a interview.
The former Olympic athlete related the tale yesterday as he rolled, almost effortlessly, into Vancouver International Airport, which is recognized as one of the most accessible facilities in the world.
The only barrier now is long lineups at the check-in counter — an equal opportunity nuisance. "This is real progress," Mr. Hansen said, good naturedly.
The Vancouver airport was singled out yesterday as one of the first recipients of the Rick Hansen Accessibility Awards. The prize, which honours facilities and communities that improve the quality of life for people with mobility limitations, are designed to spur the efforts of architects, community planners, politicians and corporations.
Mr. Hansen stressed that these improvements benefit not only people in wheelchairs, but the elderly, the blind, parents pushing strollers and everyone else with mobility problems.
Despite progress, he said "there is still a long way to go" to improve public facilities so that they are accessible to all members of the public, and that legislation, while often great in theory, is rarely enforced.
Now 46Ö, Mr. Hansen became a paraplegic after a car crash in 1973 when he was 15. He became an iconic figure when he embarked on his Man in Motion tour in 1985. Between then and 1987, he wheeled 40,000 kilometres — the equivalent of the circumference of Earth — to raise awareness and money for spinal cord research.
He noted how, during a recent visit to the office of British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, he had to be wheeled in through a tunnel used by delivery trucks, at the back of the building. (The Premier, he said, vowed that would change.)
The former Olympian and winner of 19 international marathons said it rankles that, at sporting events, people in wheelchairs are still "herded into cattle pens" instead of being allowed to purchase seats to their liking, like other fans. He said accessibility must be a guiding principle in society, not a token gesture.
"Being able to get in and out of a building is not enough. You need meaningful access. That means being able to use the coffee shop and the bathroom, just like everyone else. You can get into theatres now, but can you also get on stage? That has to be the goal."
Mr. Hansen, who is the president and CEO of the Man In Motion Foundation, believes the playing field should be levelled not only in the community, but in sport.
He dreams that, when the Olympic Games come to Vancouver-Whistler in 2010, able-bodied and disabled athletes will be competing side by side, not in parallel events. This is not to suggest that wheelchair marathoners would be in the same race as running marathoners, but the winners of each race would get full-status medals.
"They don't have 'special' elections for disabled politicians, do they?" he asked. "We've got to bridge the gap between the Olympics and Paralympics and recognize all the participants for what they are: outstanding athletes."
In addition to launching the accessibility awards yesterday, Mr. Hansen is scheduled to participate this weekend in the second annual Wheels in Motion fundraiser, which is expected to raise more than $1-million for the foundation and for spinal cord research.
The event — in which Canadians are invited to wheel, bike, skate, run or walk along courses ranging from one to 10 kilometres — is being held tomorrow in more than 200 communities.
Mr. Hansen, who lives in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond, will participate in his hometown of Williams Lake, B.C., with his wife Amanda and three daughters, aged 12, 10 and 8.
To date, his foundation has raised more than $150-million.
More than 2.5 million people worldwide have spinal cord injuries, including about 40,000 in Canada. There are about 1,000 new injuries annually, the majority of them suffered by young people in summer.
