Rick Hansen helps open world-class spinal cord research centre

Published Tuesday November 18th, 2008

THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Man in Motion wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen joined B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell Tuesday to officially open a world-class spinal cord injury research centre in Vancouver.

The Blusson Spinal Cord Centre at Vancouver General Hospital will have more than 300 researchers looking for new ways to treat spinal injuries and will provide outpatient care. Hansen said staff at the centre will work to move the world closer to a cure.

"The realization of this dream will have an extraordinary impact on the community of people living with spinal cord injury across this country today, and those who will be injured in the future," Hansen said in a news release.

The six-storey, $45-million centre is the largest facility in the world dedicated to spinal cord injury research.

Campbell said the centre goes beyond any other facility in the world in bringing spinal cord patients together with researchers and health-care professionals.

"Through this facility, we are providing the tools to improve the lives of thousands of British Columbians and people around the world - and bringing us closer to finding a cure for spinal cord injuries," Campbell said.

The facility is a partnership of the University of British Columbia, the Rick Hansen Foundation, the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver General Hospital and UBC Hospital Foundation.

In addition to a $12.9-million investment by the provincial government, the centre received funds from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the University of B.C. and Vancouver Coastal Health.

Hansen thanked Dr. Stewart and Marilyn Blusson, for whom the facility is named, for their $8.75-million contribution through the Rick Hansen Foundation.

The Rick Hansen Foundation was established in 1988 and has had an impact of more than $200 million in the field of spinal cord injury in Canada.

The Rick Hansen Man in Motion world tour in 1985 and 1986 raised $26 million dollars for spinal cord research.

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