wheels to fly...

Two days ago, my son J was fitted for a custom wheelchair, part of a long-term strategy to aid his recovery from a spinal cord injury.  At home that evening, we happened to catch a re-run of The Mercer Report on CBC where wild man Rick Mercer and his guest, paralympian Rick Hansen visited Whistler, British Columbia. Serendipity, I thought. What better role model for J than the famous 'Man in Motion' himself? And then they did this:

J was thrilled, whooping right along with the two Ricks as they plummeted into the river gorge, wheelchair and all. I wasn't surprised. J has always been a give-it-a-try kind of guy. Me? Not so much. Never mind jumping. The thought of just standing on that platform, looking (gulp) down, gives me the shivering fits and collywobbles.

J has watched the jump vid half a dozen times now and I love the positive message he’s seeing, reinforcing the give-it-a-try mindset. Of course, when it comes to wheelchair bungee jumping, I’m not worried. Really. I'm sure he'll be content with vicarious thrills.

Although...

Hmm. J has also been pondering colour options for his fancy new wheels and just announced a change of mind. Goodbye sedate forest green, hello fire engine red. Easier to spot at the bottom of a river.

Rick Hansen after his jump into the gorge at Whistler.

(I’ll get you for this, Mercer.)


Updated on Aug 14 to allow video play on iPad/iPhone.