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Meet inspirational Wings for Life World Run Ambassador, Ben Leclair
Find out how he turned his passion for extreme sports into a source of inspiration and support for spinal cord injury research.
Ben Leclair was living his dream of being a professional wakeboarder to the fullest when his life suddenly took a drastic turn. During a routine 2016 maneuver in Orlando, Florida, he suffered a double neck fracture that left him paralyzed from the neck down and forced to breathe on a ventilator when he woke up.
Today, that same resilience drives him forward. Through the Wings For Life World Run, Ben is shining a light on his cause, raising funds for spinal cord research and continuing to challenge himself in new ways. Others can take part in that journey by joining his team - search #BENSQUAD in the Wings For Life World Run app.
Ben Leclair wakeboarding
© Wings for Life
Despite the number of people who still attempt to unfurl his fingers upon greeting into a full shake, Ben Leclair only fistbumps hello. “Because my hands are paralyzed,” he shares.
That’s been his reality ever since a routine maneuver as a professional wakeboarder led Leclair to suffer a neck fracture that left him immoble from the shoulders down. That hasn’t stopped Leclair, though, from making his first trip to New York, his dog Onyx trotting along his wheelchair, for the media day proceedings at The Armory ahead of this year’s Wings For Life World Run. He’s found as much joy in documenting the event as joining in the action. His hands aren’t preventing him from wheeling across the blue track, from capturing this day through his refined lens.
“I used to be an athlete. I used to be the one in front of the camera doing different tricks to promote things,” Leclair said. “Now I’m on the other side of the camera with my production company.”
Ben Leclair and friends participate in the Wings for Life World Run
© Reuben Polansky for Wings For Life World Run
And this year, Leclair will have a camera setup in his handcycle as he hopes to set a personal record of distance traveled on May 10, before the catcher car eliminates him from the race. When he first rolled through Wings For Life in 2019, his first physical competition following his accident, Leclair was only able to log around 4 kilometers on a cold morning in Montreal. But the race gave him an unexpected rush of hope and encouragement that he could once again find the glow of organized sport despite his injury. “To see that I could participate in something at my own pace, but also race my friends, and we could all have the same feeling that we used to have, has really pushed me since my injury,” Leclair shared. “Every year since has been my benchmark to see how much I’ve progressed in my rehab.”
A wheel chair wouldn’t have allowed him to go fast enough to outlast the catcher car for very long beyond the 30 minute head start afforded to all participants around the world. But over his next few attempts, Leclair saw marked improvements in his annual performance as he gained more and more function with his hand cycle. “It was kind of exponential,” he said, to the point where he cleared 15.5 kilometers “in perfect conditions.” The catcher car’s updates in his headphones has pushed Leclair to try and go faster and faster. That thrill, dashing alongside thousands across the globe, coupled with the knowledge that the money raised at the event is truly helping advance spinal cord research, Leclair feels leaves all competitors with an undeniable feeling of wanting to come back for more.
“Once you do the race once, you’ll be back next year, because you realize it’s so much deeper than a race,” he said.
Ben Leclair participating in the Wings for Life World Run in 2021
© Wings for Life
Ben Leclair at Wings for Life World run 2023 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
© Reuben Polansky for Wings For Life World Run
Last year was the first that Leclair organized a location of Wings For Life at the Lunar Cable Park in Almeria, Spain. It was also the first that Leclair was joined by Onyx, who, well, unfortunately had to stop during the race to relieve himself, forfeiting any of Leclair’s small chances to best his previous record. “I place a little blame on him,” Leclair smiled. He’s since been training harder than ever, even hand cycling in the snow throughout this winter, to be in the best shape he’s been at a Wings for Life race this spring. “I’ve wanted to push myself,” Leclair said. “I’m trying to go for 16 kilometers.”
If he can do that, while recording the proceedings, that would mark a true feat. “It was hard at first to imagine a world where I’d be able to handle a camera and be as creative as I wanted to be,” Leclair said. However, the last near-decade has seen Leclair’s rehabilitation and training paired with great advancements in camera technology. He’s partnered with Panasonic as an ambassador, allowing Leclair to test out all new kinds of camera gear and equipment. He’s built different setups for different types of wheel chairs. “I can be as independent as I can be. It’s been really fulfilling.”
He’s even finishing work on a documentary about spinal cord injury research, which followed scientists to the senate floor in Washington, D.C. to showcase what they’re doing in the clinic to help the ongoing recoveries of people like himself. “They expressed how important it is to get more funding, and with events like Wings for Life, that’s what makes the growth of the treatment so exponential,” Leclair said.
According to Ben, losing one's independence is the worst thing that can happen to someone, a spinal cord injury is a nightmare that he would not wish on anyone.
These advancements, like spinal implant transfusions, and other research developments that are supported by Wings for Life, have Leclair optimistic that he could even one day return to some form of competition at his own wakeboarding event in the not too distant future. “We’re making that much of a difference,” Leclair said.
