I sat down and connected with William Bourassa; a young man who could have easily given up on his dreams but instead, he is living life to the fullest!
During the summer of 2015, William was an eager DH racer on the Quebec local scene. One day after a tough race, he wanted to redeem himself and went for a final lap with some friends. Unfortunately, this last run resulted in a severe crash: two broken vertebras, instant paralysis from his mid torso down... Life was suddenly changed forever and his mobility was significantly altered. I couldn’t imagine how he felt or how he would adapt to this new reality.
William did not wallow in self-pity. He accepted his condition, received incredible support from his friends and especially his girlfriend Andréeanne Richard (who spent every day of William's hospitalization by his side). His recovery was extremely fast and his new physical restrictions did not diminish his ambitions and hopes to ride. In fact, William started riding on a special three wheeled bike as soon as he could but this model was limited in terms of trail access and performance. He wanted to ride aggressively, ride technical trails and so he began to create an adaptor in his garage to achieve these goals. This new device enabled him to sit on a regular bike, with an electrical motor so that he could ride technical trails independently. In the summer, he was back on the dirt and in the winter he adapted it to skis.
With his adaptor, William could explore again. The project list was back open and he set his sights to ride in Whistler and other epic West Coast destinations. He left for this road trip, accompanied by Vincent Girard, who created a film around it.
The project was called "Les Fous Heureux" (https://www.facebook.com/Les-fous-heureux-391371067955533/) and the film's premiere will be held on March 30th at the Mountain Bike Film Festival in Montreal.For 2019, William now has his sights on a whole new level of riding.
This year Knolly Bikes has brought him on as a Grassroots Race (GSR) Ambassador and he will be building up a Delirium for the upcoming season. Two local Quebec GSR racers/engineers, Frédéric Droulers and Frédéric René-Laforest, will be helping out with his new adaptor design for disabled riders. The drawings and instructions will be available online... Entirely FREE! William wishes that other people could also be helped and wants to share his adaptor design with them in the hopes that they will ride too.
To help William fund this project and share his dream, he has created a place where you can support him and his efforts: https://www.gofundme.com/une-nouvelle-prothese-pour-will
Madly Happy on life
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