Cook thrills at Nitro Circus

Photo: CTV

Kelowna motocross stunt rider Bruce Cook thrilled the crowd at Nitro Circus in Vancouver – despite being paralyzed from the waist down.

Cook was part of the show at Rogers Arena Sunday night, wowing the crowd with his aerial acrobatics.

Two years ago, a crash left him paralyzed, but that hasn't slowed him down. Just last month, he became the first paraplegic to do a successful backflip on a motorcycle, at a show in Toronto.

“It was the same old thing of getting back on the horse when you’re bucked off,” Cook told CTV News. “Since day one in the hospital bed, I definitely wanted to get back on the bike… I never had any other thought in my mind.”

Cook was seriously injured in January 2014, when he attempted a double front flip during a Nitro Circus show in Hamilton, Ont. 

But, less than a year later, he was riding again – thanks to a mechanic friend who modified his dirtbike.

“Every day there's a new challenge," says Cook, "but if I can reach out to that many people and inspire them to live a better life or maybe try something they were scared to before, then it’s all worth it to me.”

Besides the adrenaline rush of being back in the saddle, Cook has a bigger goal – to walk again.

“The ultimate goal is to walk again, and it will happen,” Cook says. “It's just a long, slow process and I’ve got to try and be patient, which I'm not very good at.”

He hopes to encourage others to never limit themselves.

“Just keep 'can't' out of your vocabulary – just push to better yourself,” Cook says. 

– with files from CTV Vancouver