Filed under: Irked Videos

From the WheresLulu.com blog:

“Don’t tell Baxter Humby he’s not a sexy mofo. He’ll totally kick your ass! Known as “The One Arm Bandit”, Baxter (that’s Mr. Humby to you) is the current International Muay Thai Council World Super Welterweight Champion, whew! So what does all that mean?! It basically means he could drop you flat on your back so fast, you won’t even know what hit you. No worries, let me remind you. It was Baxter, “The One Arm Bandit.” The only man in the world to ever win world titles with only one hand. You’d be hard press to go out and find a boxer, kickboxer, or anyone who wouldn’t see missing half a limb as a huge freakin’ disadvantage. Try telling Mr. Humby that…on second thought don’t. He might kick your teeth in.”

8-minute film + extended bio…after the jump!

Click to continue »

Filed under: Uncategorized

World-record-setting Paralympian sprinter Aimee Mullins, as you know from our last post, is a bilateral amputee—i.e. both of her legs were amputated below the knee. She learned to walk on prosthetics, then to run.

Aimee said some truly tremendous things during her TED Talk.

But this quote in particular, this hilarious and delicious nugget of a sound byte, is so off-the-wall funny that it bears repeating…

“From an identity standpoint, what does it mean to have a disability?
Pamela Anderson has more prosthetic in her body than I do.
Nobody calls her disabled.”

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Another time, being interviewed by Mavian Arocha for Aventura Magazine, Aimee was asked “What quality do you lack that you wish you could attain and embrace?” Not missing a beat, Aimee ran with the generic line of questioning and dryly responded: “Besides being able to bend my ankles? Jeez, this is hard.”

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Filed under: Irked Videos

In this wonderful TED video, filmed in February ‘09, Aimee Mullins talks about her prosthetic legs—she’s got a dozen amazing pairs—and the superpowers they grant her: speed, beauty, an extra 6 inches of height … Quite simply, she redefines what the body can be. [via]

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What to watch next:
TED98 – Aimee Mullins on running

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Then…

Visit AimeeMullins.com

Then…

Read all Irked posts tagged “prosthetics”

Read all Irked posts tagged “bilateral amputee”

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Filed under: Themes, Tumour Humour, Campaign Watch

Quoting Hal Newman, current managing editor at BigMedicine.ca, former firefighter and paramedic with 3+ decades of experience in emergency services who “reinvented” himself after leaving the streets by becoming a Network Accelerant:

If you had to pick someone who would be the least likely to become addicted to road cycling more than 30 km each and every day at speed you need not look any further than me. So, it’s a bit surreal to think that come July 2010, I will be joining thousands of other cyclists riding the 250 km [in two days] from Montreal to Quebec City to raise funds to support the fight against cancer. I’m riding for Abraham, Rose, Mimi, David, Susan, Gil, Mario and many many others who fought cancer right up until their dying breaths. We say the words carefully. Sometimes in a hushed whisper. Sometimes spat out like a foul taste in our mouths. “Cancer” … “The Big CA.” So many family members and friends and colleagues who have waged pitched battles against cancer. Occasionally there are wins—and we celebrate those in grand style although truth be told, once cancer stages a home invasion it never really leaves. Even when it’s gone for good, we all wonder if cancer will find another way to come back into our lives. More often than not there are losses. And we mark those with sorrow and tears and a lasting hatred of a disease that shows no mercy and knows no boundaries. I spent a good chunk of my career as a paramedic/ firefighter. Cancer has become inexorably linked with those who are on the frontlines of emergency services. I’ve gone to the hospital to pick-up a friend/ colleague after his first round of chemo and I’ll always remember his reaction to being able to walk, albeit weakly, out the door under his own power. It was a cold, crisp day and yet he had his window down for the ride home so he could take in the sunshine and the wind. His cancer was beaten back and he’s still a part of our lives. I’m riding for Norm and Don and not enough others who have found a way to beat cancer. Norm Rooker, my brother-of-another-mother, wrote about learning he had bladder cancer . . .

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Continue reading Hal’s stunningly beautiful essay

And…

DONATE, DONATE, DONATE

Then…

Read Irked posts tagged “emergency response”
Read Irked posts tagged “cancer”

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Filed under: Themes, Wheelchairman of the Board

According to Lisa Donovan’s September 26th article for the Chicago Sun-Times, if the city of Chicago had won its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, the stadium that was planned would have been “one of the more handicapped-friendly venues ever built.” In addition to being fully accessible, the city was working on design plans to convert up to 50,000 of the planned 80,000 seats at the temporary stadium into wheelchairs. The chairs, which would have cost an estimated $100 to $200 each, would subsequently have been donated to disabled people in developing countries.

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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, Cerebral Ballsy, Irked Videos

dan habib supports his son, samuel habib, during a t-ball game in concord, nh. samuel uses a "bronco" all-terrain walker to hit and get around the bases. (photo credit: lori duff/concord monitor)

Before his son Samuel was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, photojournalist Dan Habib rarely thought about the inclusion of people with disabilities. Now he thinks about inclusion every day. His award winning documentary film, “Including Samuel,” chronicles the Habib family’s efforts to include Samuel in every facet of their lives. The film honestly portrays his family’s hopes and struggles as well as the experiences of four other individuals with disabilities and their families. Currently airing on Public TV nationwide, “Including Samuel” is his very personal effort to inspire the public—especially anyone connected to education—to talk about inclusion in a more informed and innovative way.

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Quoting photojournalist and filmmaker Dan Habib:

Samuel’s journey is the central thread through the film, and I wanted viewers to learn a lot about him beyond the fact that he has a disability: He wrestles with his brother. He loves t-ball. He wants to be an astronaut when he grows up. Yet Samuel is only nine, and including him will likely become more and more challenging as he grows up. So I also made this film to learn from the experiences of other people with disabilities who can look back on the choices they and their parents have made, and to see how these choices have shaped their lives.

When I was a teenager I fell in love with photography . . . The 57th Street galleries and the International Center of Photography were my places of worship. Work by great photographers filled the walls—Andre Kertsz, Susan Meiseles, Bruce Davidson, Josef Koudelka—there were dozens and dozens of exhibits every time I went to the city and I lapped it all up . . . In 1992 I took a course at the Maine Photo Workshop with Eugene Richards that changed the direction of my career, and led me to pursue longer documentary projects . . . As I’ve gotten older my heroes are not photographers now as much as they are great documentarians, activists and change agents: Studs Terkel. Martin Luther King. Helen Keller. Lincoln. Rosa Parks. FDR. Obama. The many, many great disability rights leaders working right now for change. And it may sound corny, but my wife and two boys inspire me more than anyone else living or dead.

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“Including Samuel” will air on PBS World on October 9. (See listings here). Watch a 12-minute clip from the film:

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More at includingsamuel.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: 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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