Before Terry Fox ran the famed Marathon of Hope in 1980, George Hincks and Marshall McDougall walked their own journey across Canada.

With one leg apiece, Hincks and McDougall were among the 4,000 Canadian troops who lost limbs during the Great War of 1914–1918.

In 1923, they both arrived at a military hospital in Calgary for follow-up treatment of their wounds. Like many disabled veterans, Hincks and McDougall spent years navigating the long road of recovery. While there, a fellow patient issued a challenge to the ward: no man, he announced, could travel from Calgary to Ottawa on crutches, daring someone to call his bet.

Hincks and McDougall looked at their legs, then each other. You’re on, they said.

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Only a month later, with nothing but crutches in hand, Hincks and McDougall set off on a 3,000-kilometre trek from Calgary to Ottawa. Much like Terry Fox, Hincks and McDougall aimed to raise awareness, but for war amputees like themselves.

When asked about the purpose of their journey, Hincks said, “Primarily, it is to prove that an amputation case has as much stamina and ability as the average citizen who has not lost a faculty.” With a smirk, he also remarked, “We will have a good holiday.”

In the early 20th century, disability was viewed with skepticism and derision. Able-bodied Canadians saw people with disabilities as lazy and unproductive. Hincks and McDougall were determined to prove them wrong. They saw the trek to Ottawa as a litmus test for their — and, by extension, other war amputees’ — abilities to contribute to national........

© Calgary Herald