#Throwback Thursday – Remember This One?

It was this day in 1985 in Vancouver, Rick Hansen – the Canadian wheelchair athlete – would start his “Man In Motion” tour to raise money for spinal cord research.

David Foster (fellow Canadian) was so inspired by this, he teamed up with John Parr to write a tribute song to Rick Hansen that would be used for the film St. Elmo’s Fire.

David foster and John Parr would tell the film company that the song was written to go with events in the movie, but the title itself makes it pretty obvious the song is about Rick Hansen.

According to Songfacts, John Parr didn’t even see the movie before writing the song and says Rick gave him all the inspiration he needed. He says “I was him as I sang it.  Wheeling up the mountainside towards St. Elmo’s Fire burning in the sky.”

The first months of the tour, Rick Hansen travelled through California, and across to Florida.  He did about 50 miles a day, hoping for media support to raise awareness and donations.  The tour headed to Europe for the summer, and over the few months following, the song would make it’s way to the top of the charts and would become the anthem for the movement.

The “Man In Motion” tour makes its way through Australia, China, and the Middle East. By the time the tour wraps up in Vancouver in May of 1987, they had made their way through 34 different countries and had raised over $26 million dollars.  His foundation continues to support people with disabilities as it attempts to eliminate barriers – physical and perceptual – that may be holding them back.

Categorised in: Afternoons

This post was written by Carrie Buchanan