Athlete Ends Wheelchair Tour of World

Disabled athlete Rick Hansen finally wheeled to a stop Friday after pushing himself around the world for 26 months, seeking to raise funds and draw attention to the handicapped.

Thousands of people lined the highway into this British Columbia city, cheering and waving yellow ribbons that symbolized a homecoming, as Hansen rolled the last 25 miles of his 25,000-mile odyssey.

“I’m just overwhelmed with emotion, with gratitude to not only my crew but to the people who have worked so long and so hard to make this happen,” he said.

Hansen, 29, has collected more than $7.5 million for spinal cord research and worn out five wheelchairs on the trip he named the Man in Motion Tour.

Hansen’s spine was crushed at age 15 when he and a friend were thrown from a pickup truck. The friend was tossed clear, but a heavy tool box landed on Hansen’s back.

“I thought my life was over. I thought I’d spend the rest of my life in a hospital being taken care of by nurses,” he recalled.

Instead, Hansen became a well-known wheelchair athlete, winning marathons and entering the Olympics for the disabled. He was the first disabled person to win a physical education degree at the University of British Columbia. In 1983, a national trophy honoring Canada’s outstanding athlete of the year was shared by Hansen and hockey star Wayne Gretzky.