CANADIAN paralympian Jeff Adams climbed the 1,776 stairs of the world largest tower in a wheelchair to show the disabled world some of the biggest obstacles can be overcome.

　　Adams, a four-time competitor at the Paralympics, believes stairs are among the biggest barriers to people in wheelchairs.

　　“The best part of living is standing up to a barrier,” Adams told reporters.

　　Adams, 31, is the first person to attempt and complete climbing Toronto’s CN Tower in a wheelchair. It took some five hours to climb Saturday, moving backwards in a specially made wheelchair, the inside staircase of the tower that dominates the skyline of Canada’s most populous city.

　　“It’s so outside the box and also something you never thought was possible in a wheelchair,” he said.

　　The challenge was part of his campaign to raise money for a program run by the Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons that addresses some of the challenges faced by the disabled.

　　Adams started the program after he was asked to leave a restaurant where his wheelchair was considered a fire hazard.

　　“We decided to respond to the negative situation in a positive way,” he said.

　　At the age of nine when he was struck with Transverse Myelitis, a disorder that sometimes results in the loss of movement in the legs, Adams quickly learned that stairs were his biggest foe.

　　Adams has won 12 medals at Paralympic games, two silvers at World Championships and was the prior World Record holder in the 1,500m men’s wheelchair event.

　　According to his fund-raising group, donations topped US$63,000.

　　(SD-Agencies)