Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/126959
c to he Trail ad's o ys couver V ancouver Island's west coast. He completed half of the West Coast Trail in 2007 with the help of nine friends and a Trail Rider — a rugged, lightweight mobility unit that's a cross between a rickshaw and a wheelbarrow. With one able-bodied buddy pulling, another pushing, the ad-hoc group manoeuvred and sweated their way down just about every section of the route. "There's nothing like sitting around a campfire in the middle of nowhere with your buddies," says Jacobsen. "It was amazing." In 2009, he again returned to the Island's west coast, this time for an oceanside paddle of the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail. Employing a specially designed double kayak with a mounted paddle that allowed him to contribute physically, it was an even more rewarding experience. Somehow, in December 2012, Jacobsen also found time to launch the Accessible Travel Project, educating wheelchair users about air travel. Driven by the belief that "most of our barriers in life are mental," it's another program motivated by Jacobsen's passion for helping others overcome their fears. As with public transit, he says, air travel is a hurdle for a lot of wheelchair users (and increasingly relevant as the baby boomer generation ages). With input from other mobility-challenged travellers and support from Vancouver International Airport, Jacobsen created Travel Tips, a series of savvy online videos with info on accessible airline travel, from booking a ticket and boarding the plane to reaching the final destination. "And if you think you can't get on a plane, I just showed you how," says Jacobsen. And this is just Jacobsen's latest effort to ensure Vancouver is one of the most accessible cities in the world, says Lawrence. No doubt it won't be his last. "He's a man of great ability," says Lawrence. "When you first meet him you may see the wheelchair and think 'disability.' But soon you see nothing but ability." –Ryan Stuart Get Mobilized Organized by Spinal Cord Injury BC with the help of TransLink, Vancouver's 9th annual Bus Stop Hop is scheduled for August 17, 2013 – with teams of four (two with disabilities, two able-bodied) racing checkpoint to checkpoint using accessible transit. At each checkin, team members answer trivia questions or complete fun activities to earn points, and at the end of the day, the team with the most points wins. Interested? Get more info and matched up with a team at sci-bc.ca/event/bus-stop-hop • p20-23_Profile.indd 23 Westworld >> S u m m e r 2 0 1 3 23 13-04-18 1:34 PM