Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

IQALUIT
When you've powered your wheelchair around the world, you're certain to inspire others, and that's what Rick Hansen did when he visited Iqaluit on Sept. 25 and 26.

Naiomie Hanson Akavak, left, and Nicole Panipakoocho, right, pose for photos with Rick Hansen, who named them Difference Makers at a ceremony at Nakasuk School on Sept. 25. - Casey Lessard/NNSL photo

"He went around the world in a wheelchair and I just sit here watching TV," said Johnny Mark, 16, who was one of the handful of young men attending a meet-and-greet session at the Mattukkuttuvik youth centre. "It just made me want to get up and do something to make the community better."

Mark and the other teens listened as Hansen told them how he loved fishing, and was returning home from a fishing trip at age 15 when fate intervened. He had hitched a ride in the back of a pickup truck – the vehicle hit a patch of gravel and rolled. He landed on the edge of a metal toolbox and broke his back.

Doctors told him he would never walk again.

"I was feeling pretty sorry for myself," Hansen said. "I went through a tough time, and I came through it."

A physiotherapist told Hansen not to quit and to believe in his dreams.

"I had a dream of becoming a world-class athlete, and I did," he said. Hansen won three golds, two silvers and a bronze in wheelchair racing at the Paralympic Games in 1980 and 1984. "I was no longer feeling sorry for myself. I just had to think about my situation a little differently."

"A lot of these kids don't have a lot to look forward to, unfortunately," said youth leader Cozell Dyer. "It's great they can come here and see Rick Hansen, who has gone through so much, to tell them there is a lot to look forward to."

Hansen himself has a lot to look back on. The Iqaluit visit was the only Nunavut stop on a cross-Canada relay celebrating the 25th anniversary of his Man in Motion world tour. Wheeling around the world from 1985 to 1987, he clocked 40,000 km on his wheelchair, which required 17 million strokes on the wheels. For this year's relay, instead of a man in motion, Hansen is employing many in motion – 7,000 relay participants across the country passing along a commemorative medal.

Nunavut premier Eva Aariak welcomed Hansen to the territory at a square dance at Nakasuk School Sept. 25, in which Hansen hit the dance floor with Nunavut Commissioner Edna Elias.

The territory has funding available for projects that will improve mobility and access in Nunavut, Aariak said. The deadline for applications is Oct. 31.

"You remind us that anything is possible," she told Hansen, "and I thank you for that."

Hansen rewarded two Difference Makers – Naiomie Hanson Akavak and Nicole Panipakoocho – for their volunteer work.

Hanson Akavak has cerebral palsy and has worked to raise awareness of disability issues locally and nationally.

Hanson Akavak said she was proud to receive the distinction."He's an inspiration to me."

Panipakoocho is a volunteer with the Iqaluit help line.

"There are so many people who need help," she said. "If I can save one life, that's enough. I just want to help."

That attitude is what Rick Hansen wanted to encourage through his Difference Makers program. Hansen's visit also encouraged Gordon Shaimaiyuk, 16, to pursue his dream of preserving an area of land across Frobisher Bay.

"I'd like to make it into a park," Shaimaiyuk, who is an active volunteer and busy student. "I'd like to see it well-maintained and protected so the next generation can experience what I have."

That sounds like an idea which would make Rick Hansen proud.

"There's always a new chapter to unfold," Hansen said. "That's what I love about life."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.