Rick Hansen completes his Man in Motion tour
Broadcast Date: May 22, 1987
The euphoric finish at last. Thousands of people line the streets of Vancouver as Rick Hansen comes down the home stretch. He tears through the yellow ribbon finish line, marking the exact spot in the shopping mall where he began his journey 26 months earlier. A triumphant Hansen completes the Man In Motion World Tour, and CBC Television is there to capture it all. "I just want to thank you for believing the potential of disabled persons," says an emotional Hansen before a throng of cheering supporters.Rick Hansen completes his Man in Motion tour
• The Man In Motion World Tour raised $24 million, far exceeding the $10 million that Hansen had originally wanted to raise. The tour stopped in 34 countries on four continents and saw him wheel 40,072 kilometres (24,901.55 miles) around the world. According to Hansen's official website, he spent 792 days on the road, had 126 flat tires, went through 94 pairs of gloves and wore out 160 wheelchair tires. (He was even robbed four times!)
• Other quirky facts about the tour:
- Hansen wrote 2,172 postcards to friends and fans;
- averaged 30,000 wheel strokes per day;
- celebrated his 28th and 29th birthdays on the road;
- was cheered by 800,000 people in Tianjin, China;
- and spent 16 hours wheeling on the road on Oct. 31, 1985.
• Hansen married his physiotherapist, Amanda Reid, in October 1987. He was named a Companion of the Order of Canada on March 28, 1988.
Rick Hansen completes his Man in Motion tour
Medium: Television
Program: The National
Broadcast Date: May 22, 1987
Host: Knowlton Nash
Reporter: Jane Chalmers
Duration: 3:09
Last updated:
Sept. 28, 2009
External sites
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Rick Hansen completes his Man in Motion tour.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: Sept. 28, 2009.
[Page consulted on Feb. 12, 2012.]