Pic from National Ledger
Victor Webster: National Ledger
Canadian Victor Webster To Play Real-Life Wheelchair-Bound Hero
By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
Dec 9, 2005
Talk about an inspiring story! "Mutant X" actor Victor Webster is preparing to play Canadian hero Rick Hansen on the big screen, recreating the paraplegic's amazing journey around the world in a wheelchair.
Playing Real-Life Hero
"He pushed himself the circumference of the earth to raise awareness and money for spinal cord research, and this was back in the '80s, when there was no wheelchair access," says Webster. "It took two years, two months and two days. Can you imagine pushing yourself in a wheelchair, head on through gale-force winds, sandstorms and snow? He overcame a shoulder injury, sickness, almost died from carbon dioxide poisoning, was run off the road … think about the determination it took and the physical strength."
Hansen lost use of his legs in a truck accident as a teenager, but, Webster notes, "he did not take it as a defeat and went on to play wheelchair basketball, and to win world championships in wheelchair marathons. He has the Rick Hansen Foundation in Vancouver, Canada, and I think they've raised $100 million for spinal cord research from when he first started till now."
Webster says the pinnacle of Hansen's journey was when "he pushed himself up the Great Wall of China. That was his ultimate goal, and the Chinese government let him do that. So the main part of the movie is about his going to China and takes place on the Great Wall, and we've got approval from the Chinese government to shoot there. It's going to be pretty amazing." For his part, Webster says he'll have to do "a whole different kind of training and workout. I'll be in a wheelchair through the whole movie, and your shoulders aren't made to be working like that, so just to avoid injury I'm going to have to do a lot of special exercises."
He says the Hansen biopic will be "directed by Michael French, Mark Gordon is going to be one of the producers, and David Foster's doing all the music." He adds the script they're using has been personally approved by Hansen. "People tried to do his story for years, but they made it all about his disability. And that's not what this is about. It's about his heart and his courage, and hopefully it will inspire other people to go after their dreams and their goals."
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