Dream Big

Quadriplegic is First to Make it to North Pole

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Published through New York Able Newspaper-June 2009, page 16

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On April 11, two lawyers from Thunder Bay, Ontario, David Shannon and Christopher Watkins, crossed the polar ice by sledge to the geographic North Pole. 

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The pair raised a disabled parking sign at the North Pole on the 100^th anniversary of the first successful polar expedition.  Shannon became the first person in world history with quadriplegia who uses a wheelchair, to reach the Pole. 

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He, along with expedition co-leader Watkins, developed “Team Independence 09” to promote breaking barriers to accessibility and greater community inclusion. 

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Shannon said upon reaching the pole, “This sign represents all peoples who have faced challenges or adversity in their lives and have dreamed of overcoming them.  If we as people, work together in our homes, our cities, our countries, and in our global village, there is no dream that cannot be realized.” 

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Watkins who himself was injured in 1988 said, “David and our team represent the long-shot win of the underdog.  But it shows that there is no dream too big to dream and no challenge too big to overcome.  What David has left us with is a world of infinite horizons.”

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During the expedition the team struggled with adversity.  In addition to the cutting arctic winds, Shannon’s spinal cord injury compromised his ability to main body heat. 

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The week of the final polar push, this heat retention problem was compounded by a significant infection, which caused increased susceptibility to the life threatening cold temperatures.  Shannon and Watkins have returned exhausted and with some minor injuries.