When Rick was 15, he was riding in the back of a pickup truck after a fishing trip with his friend, when the driver lost control and the vehicle rolled over.

In 1977, Hansen recruited Terry Fox to join the Vancouver Cable Cars to play on their wheelchair basketball team.

Rick had a very close relationship with his family, especially with his brother, father and grandfather, with whom he enjoyed frequent fishing trips.

He made it from St. John's, Newfoundland to Thunder Bay, Ontario before a cancer recurrence forced him to stop, about halfway through his journey.

Inspired by the way Canadians decided to reframe disability by Terry's demonstration of ability,  Hansen decided he also wanted to make a difference by applying his athletic talent on his Man In Motion World Tour to demonstrate the potential of people with disabilities if barriers were removed and to inspire a more accessible world.

[9] The glove is on display in the Museum's signature exhibition, the Canadian History Hall, alongside an image from Hansen's Man In Motion World Tour visit to the Great Wall of China in April 1986.

On May 17, 2020, the Canadian Museum of History announced the acquisition of the Rick Hansen Man In Motion World Tour Collection.

[10] Spanning Hansen's early athletic career and life on Tour, the collection includes 1,700 artifacts and thousands of behind-the-scenes videos, photographs and documents.

The song "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" was inspired by Rick Hansen's Man In Motion World Tour, and written by Canadian record producer and composer David Foster and British musician John Parr, and performed by Parr for the soundtrack of the film St. Elmo's Fire.

For over 35 years, the Foundation has been actively improving the lives of people with disabilities, changing perceptions and breaking down barriers.

The Rick Hansen Foundation School Program educates and empowers youth from Kindergarten to Grade 12 to become accessibility and inclusion champions.

Hansen was noted as "the driving force" in the development of the 48 million dollars raised for the International Collaboration of Repair Discoveries (ICORD), an interdisciplinary research centre focused on spinal cord injury.

Hansen contributed to the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society with the money earned from the book Tale of the Great White Fish.

His citation reads:[15][16]Already a world-renowned wheelchair athlete, this British Columbian fulfilled a dream of wheeling around the world to make others aware of the potential of the disabled and to raise funds for spinal cord research among other things.

journey, recently completed, took him to four continents and 34 countries, inspiring people around the world to realize their potential and raising many millions of dollars for the cause.Hansen was named Commissioner General for the Canadian Pavilion at Expo '88 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.