Women Of Destiny

DR WILLIAM TAN

The man is truly awesome: NUS graduate, neuroscientist, medical doctor, Olympic wheelchair athlete and world records holder.
Dr William Tan personifies both passion and compassion. Born in 1957, he contracted polio at the age of two and was paralysed from the waist down. Notwithstanding his disability, he has shown outstanding strength in overcoming adversities. From a kindergarten drop-out, he topped Selegie Primary and went to Raffles Institution on a Ministry of Education Scholarship for his secondary and Pre-University education. The NUS Alumnus who majored in Biology and Psychology joined the Civil Service after graduation in 1980. In pursuit of his dream to become a scientist and medical doctor, he ventured abroad for postgraduate studies in 1989. Holder of a First Class Honours in Physiology, this Harvard University's Fulbright Scholar and Oxford University's Raffles Scholar has also trained at the world-renowned Mayo Clinic in USA.

Dr Tan is also an accomplished sportsman. He regularly gets on his racing wheelchair for marathon pushes, climbs multi-storey buildings and performs tandem parachute jumps, all for the sake of generating awareness of the less fortunate and raising funds for worthy causes.

A Singapore wheelchair marathon champion, he has competed in many international games including the 1988 Seoul Paralympics, the Commonwealth Games as well as the Asia-Pacific Games. Last April, he competed in both the London Marathon and Boston Marathon within a week, which is a rare accomplishment. In 1987, he realized that, "winning medals, trophies or prize money should not be an end to itself. It should be a means to further goodness and to help people."

Dr Tan, then 30, embarked on his first fund-raising drive by pushing his wheelchair non-stop for 16 hours on the running track of his alma mater, Raffles Institution. Since then, he has devoted to championing as well as fundraising for needy causes in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom. He has skydived, water-skied, sailed and even climbed a 14-storey building to raise money. Some of his ultramarathon endeavours included wheelchair pushes across the length of New Zealand, Singapore to Penang, Thailand to Singapore, Boston to New York to Washington DC. He has helped raised more than $14 million for charities locally and internationally, over the last 18 years.
He is also a motivational speaker, inspiring individuals such as students and business leaders, as well as organisations, in community involvement. He has progressed to many more innovative and daunting activities. A paraplegic himself, Dr Tan has helped to reshape and rebuild the lives of many patients affected by paralysis. Fourteen years ago, he started a support group to help newly disabled patients, now known as the Spinal Support Group, run by the younger disabled. More recently, Dr Tan established the Women’s and Children’s Healthcare Foundation to improve the welfare and health of children, youth and families.
Dr Tan greets life’s unfortunate setbacks and challenges with grace and vibrancy. He chooses to focus on his abilities and not disabilities.

Dr Tan’s perseverance is legendary. For example, during his home visits to the many disabled residing in HDB flats that were not on lift-landings, he would sit on his bottom and drag his wheelchair up the flight of stairs to reach their flats. During his fund-raising push across the length of New Zealand, he struggled on his wheelchair up Arthur’s Alps (the most hilly slope in the south island of New Zealand), refusing the offer to be driven across. And despite the loss of his cancer-stricken father last year, he completed his pushes from Segamat in Malaysia to Singapore, which helped raise funds for kidney patients.

He had also received widespread international recognition including the Outstanding Young Persons of the World Award (Humanitarian/ Voluntary Leadership) given by the Junior Chamber International, USA in 1997; the Commonwealth Youth Award for Excellence in Youth Work in 1998 and the ASEAN Youth Award in 2000. In 2003, he was honoured with the Reader's Digest Inspiring Asian Award which “recognize deserving individuals who must be able to demonstrate that they have made a difference or are making a difference and are encouraging others to do so”.On 26th February 2005, Dr Tan became the first person in the world to undertake a wheelchair push in Antarctica. He has also completed 10 marathons in 7 continents in 70 days. The current Guinness World Record is 7 marathons in 7 continents in 99 days held by Mr Tim Rogers from UK in 1999. His amazing race took him to Antarctica, Argentina, Egypt, Thailand, South Africa, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and USA between February and May 2005.In early 2008, Dr William Tan was recognised at the Annual Sports Superstar Awards, held by the Singapore Disability Sports Council, winning the Sportsman of the Year Award for 2007.

Despite winning many awards like the Readers’ Digest Inspiring Asians Award, the Commonwealth Youth Award, the Outstanding Young Persons of the World Award and the Distinguished Alumni Award, Dr Tan remains a humble person, always acknowledging the contributions of his parents, teachers, and alma mater to making him who he is today. Not only does he gives back to the community through his fundraising efforts, he travels all over the world sharing his life story to inspire others to overcome adversity and live life to the fullest. Indeed, as Dr Tan aptly puts it, “There are no dreams that are unattainable for anyone who has the will and determination to redefine what is humanly possible!”

Hope this will be an inspiration to all of you. :)

special thanks to anndrea..

bel.