Introduction




In April 2009, two lawyers from Thunder Bay, Ontario, David Shannon and Christopher Watkins, crossed the polar ice by sledge to the geographic North Pole. This unique expedition was a historic first because it was the first time that a person with quadriplegia due to a spinal cord injury, and a partner with a significant form of arthritis has reached the North Pole. To achieve this monumental goal, it was fitting that it happened exactly one century after Europeans first reached the North Pole. It demonstrated that we have begun a new century where there are no barriers, only infinite horizons.

Team Independence is a continuum of projects which will irrevocably change perceptions of what a disability is. On December 5, to coincide with the United Nations International Day of Disabled Persons, David Shannon and Chris Watkins successfully completed high altitude world first HALO jumps. Other members of Team Independence Jasmine Nyman, Darren Lillington, and Paul Brunette all did sky dives, thus becoming the first sky diving team in support of the disabled community. David Shannon created a world record in becoming the first wheelchair user in history to do a HALO jump at approximately 30,000 feet. The combined team believe that at least three world records were attained during this project.

The team has several projects planned during the next year and a half culminating in a world record, hundredth anniversary, South Pole summit in December of 2011.

MISSION

As persons with a disability reaching the North Pole for the first time in history we will show Canadians and the public worldwide that there is no barrier so significant that it cannot be overcome. With a particular emphasis on sending this message to children and youth we will demonstrate that when one works to include supports there are no obstacles, only a future with infinite horizons.

VISION

To bring the message to the broad public that infinite horizons are created through cooperation, support and inclusiveness. Achieving this end is critical to success for all people in a full spectrum of challenges ranging from peer pressure to team building and on to international interdependence.