Garett Hickling

Garett Deane Hickling was a Canadian wheelchair rugby player who was on the Canada national wheelchair rugby team and was voted most valuable player at several World Championships (1995, 1998, and 2002). He earned a gold medal from the 2002 World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden: a silver medal from the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece, and a bronze medal from 2008 in Beijing, China. He was the Canadian flag-bearer at the opening ceremony for the London 2012 Paralympics. He competed in every Paralympics that included his sport until his retirement, representing Canada five times.

Biography

Hickling was born on September 18, 1970. He broke his neck at age 16 in 1987. He and two friends were hiking an unfamiliar British Columbia trail at night when they fell off a cliff; one of the friends died. About five years later, Hickling took up wheelchair rugby. Hickling died in Toronto on June 20, 2025, at the age of 54.