North Pole now wheelchair accessible thanks to Canada's Team Independence

From Canada's Newswire. (Thanks to the Justice for All blog for the tip.) In the picture, Chris Watkins and Dave Shannon plant a wheelchair access sign on the North Pole. They are also holding the United Nations Flag.

TORONTO -- The North Pole has now been made wheelchair accessible. On April 11, 2009 a disabled parking sign was raised at the North Pole on the 100th Anniversary of the first successful polar expedition.

David Shannon became the first person in world history with quadriplegia and in a wheelchair to reach the Pole. He along with expedition co-leader and fellow Canadian, Chris Watkins, developed "Team Independence 09" to promote breaking barriers to accessibility and greater community inclusion.

Shannon, upon reaching the pole, stated, "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."

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

During the expedition the team struggled with adversity. In addition to the cutting arctic winds, Shannon's spinal cord injury compromised his ability to maintain body heat. 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. For example, Watkins suffered some frostbite to his fingers and a cut to his foot. They are recovering in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway, with their Teammate Darren Lillington.