G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre in Vancouver celebrated its 75th anniversary on Tuesday.
Hundreds of people filled the gymnasium as former and current patients and staff reminisced on the past and unveiled plans for the future.
Canadian icon Rick Hansen was just one of the dozens of former patients in the room. The “Man in Motion” spoke to CTV News about the impact the centre had on him when he got his diagnosis five decades ago, and his world felt like it was crumbling beneath him.
“This is a place where so many amazing people were there for me 50 years ago when I was a 16-year-old kid thinking my life was over,” said Hansen.
“The knowledge here is also exported across this region, this province and even around the world.”
Hansen would go on to embark on the Man In Motion World Tour from Vancouver in 1985, which took him …