Bruce Cook returns to Hamilton after accident three years ago

It was three years ago in Hamilton that a tragic accident left Canadian motorcross racer Bruce Cook paralyzed. But it didn’t stop him from doing what he loves.

Bruce Cook was attempting a record setting double front flip on a dirt bike at Copps Coliseum when he came up short – violently tumbling down the ramp.

“It’s one of your worst nightmares in action sports.”

He injured his spinal cord leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

But this isn’t a story of broken dreams. It’s a story of resilience.

“I always pictured what my last show would be like and it definitely wasn’t going out on a stretcher. As I was leaving the arena floor I knew that that wasn’t it.”

He had his bike modified adding a cage around where his legs go with a few other adjustments.

“The scariest part is the seatbelt. It goes around the lap and no matter what i’m along for the ride.”

Bruce would go on to set a world record although it’s slightly different than the one he tried to break in 2014.

“You want to talk about a comeback here it is!”

In Toronto, about a year after his accident, Bruce Cook became the first paraplegic athlete to successfully back flip a motorcycle making him an inspiration to others.

“A lot of people who have broken their backs or had similar injuries reach out to me and tell me maybe they’re the reason they smile that day or that they’re pushing harder and not sitting in a corner depressed about their injury.”

Bruce Cook is confident that – with advances in medicine – one day he’ll be able to walk again. But in the meantime he has no plans of slowing down.