Filed under: Uncategorized

Warren Macdonald knows a LOT about motivation. He famously (see appearances on Oprah, Larry King Live, Vicki Gabereau, The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos, etc) survived a harrowing, agonizing ordeal while mountain climbing, when he was trapped beneath a one-ton boulder in a freak rock fall. Macdonald’s test of will lasted two full days before a helicopter arrived. He was rescued, but the accident cost him both legs.

Ten months after becoming a double above-knee amputee, Macdonald, who currently lives in Vancouver and travels worldwide as a professional speaker, climbed Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain “using a modified wheelchair and the seat of his pants.”

A year later, he traveled through some of the most inhospitable terrain in Australia and climbed Federation Peak.

In winter ‘03, he became the first double above-knee amputee to reach the summit of Africa’s tallest peak, Mt Kilimanjaro (19,222ft).

And more recently, in a mind-bogglingly punishing climb that required more than 2800 pull-ups over 4 days, he made an ascent of America’s tallest cliff face, El Capitan.

He is also the only known above knee amputee to make an ascent of Canada’s landmark frozen waterfall, the 600 ft “Weeping Wall“ in Alberta.

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For more, visit…

warren-macdonald.com
twitter.com/warrenmacdonald
youtube.com/warrenmacdonald
facebook.com/warrenmacdonaldunlimited

Then…

Read Irked posts tagged “amputation”
Read Irked posts tagged “sports”
Read Irked posts tagged “British Columbia”

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Filed under: Themes, Wheelchairman of the Board

Quoting dallasnews.com:

Visiting David Gary’s garden would make a special trip to East Texas worthwhile. Beyond beautiful, the garden is a living manual for anyone longing to cultivate beauty but hesitant to begin because of age or physical disability.

“Gardening in spite of challenges? Anyone can do it,” Gary says with confidence; he lives the experience himself. “You can garden even in a wheelchair. And age isn’t a reason to quit gardening, either.”Now almost 63, Gary was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in 1975 at age 28, and he was told he’d be in a wheelchair before he turned 40. He managed to go almost 20 years past that prediction.

“I’m a hammerhead,” he says with a laugh. “I wanted to prove them wrong.” Although he gets around now in a motorized scooter he calls “my Harley,” normal strength in his calves and ankles allows him to continue driving himself from Tyler to the Dallas Arboretum, where he began volunteering in 2003, two years before moving from Dallas.

In fact, it was the Arboretum that first inspired Gary to garden.

David Gary’s gardening tips…after the jump!

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Filed under: Themes, Wheelchairman of the Board, Irked Videos

WARNING:

You’re about to laugh ’til your gut busts, your sides split, and your cheeks ache.

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Last week we wet your appetite. Here now is the extended clip of Rick Mercer and Rick Hansen (wheelchair and all!) going bungee jumping in beautiful British Columbia. Damn, the Rick Mercer Report is h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s!:

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Filed under: Themes, Wheelchairman of the Board, Irked Videos

Congratulations to Chris Waddell & the One-Revolution team on a successful summit of Mount Kilimanjaro!!!! At 19,340 feet, Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa and the tallest freestanding mountain in the world. Waddell has just become the FIRST paraplegic to summit the mountain, using the appropriately named Bomba (pictured above)—a one-of-a-kind, 4-wheel handcycle propelled entirely be arm power.

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Watch this recent CBS News segment, shot before Waddell reached the top:

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Learn more at one-revolution.com

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Filed under: Themes, Wheelchairman of the Board, Irked Videos

The Rick Mercer Report’s seventh season premiere is TONIGHT (September 29th) on CBC-TV. You’ll have a chance to see:

Rick Mercer

…bungee jumping

…in Whistler, BC

…with Rick Hansen!

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8PM Tonight, CBC-TV

(8:30 in Newfoundland)

As most of you probably know, Rick Hansen is a truly iconic Canadian who was in an automobile crash at age 15 that left him a paraplegic. In 1985, after winning 19 international wheelchair marathons, he began his dream to circumnavigate the earth and raise awareness and money for spinal cord injury victims. Two years later he completed 40,000 km and raised $26 million. Today he is (among many many things) the President and CEO of the extremely successful and influential Rick Hansen Foundation.

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Read all Irked posts tagged “Rick Hansen”

Then…

cbc.ca/mercerreport, rickmercer.com

rickhansen.com

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Filed under: Art Gallery

Here’s our favourite shot from Karen Stuebing’s recent photo gallery, titled Home of the White Tail Deer. Karen, your work is utterly magnificent! Keep the incredible photographs coming:

Click here to see the other beautiful photos

Then…

Click here to read all Irked posts by Karen

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Filed under: Themes, Wheelchairman of the Board, Irked Videos

Until recently, wheelchairs couldn’t provide access to nature’s most beautiful spots. Parks and beaches . . . sand, gravel, lightly-packed snow . . . oceanside, lakeside, national parks, cobbled botanical gardens. The Landeez all-terrain wheelchair promises to change all that. Ideal for traveling by car, it can be disassembled and placed in the trunk in seconds after removing two pins in the rear wheels. The sporty Landeez can be equipped with optional accessories that make using it more enjoyable in the great outdoors, including a colorful beach umbrella, a reading stand, a handy drink holder, and a latch for binoculars.

With the Landeez all-terrain wheelchair, you can enjoy life’s simple pleasures.

Visit landeez.com

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Filed under: Themes, Wheelchairman of the Board, Irked Videos

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A cool BBC TV segment from 2007:

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Visit trekinetic.co.uk

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Filed under: Themes, Wheelchairman of the Board, Irked Videos

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Video of a man cruising through the sand and surf in his amazing TracAbout IRV2000:

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Visit tracabout.com

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Filed under: Uncategorized

Hilary Lister is a 37-year-old quadriplegic yachtswoman—she can only move her head, eyes and mouth. Hilary recently became the first female quadriplegic to sail solo around the UK. Wow!

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