A lover of travel, Drew Cumpson is determined to visit the Seven Wonders of the World. As a quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair, he has faced many practical challenges when travelling. He is working to eliminate obstacles to travel for others with disabilities through his H & D Consulting business.
A School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Managements grad, Cumpson was featured in a MSN.com story recently.
Now living in the Odessa area of Ontario, near Kingston, Cumpson was injured while on a humanitarian mission to Peru in the spring of 2011. He was a U of G student at the time. While swimming he was thrust headfirst into the rocky ocean floor by a large wave. His fourth cervical vertebra was fractured. A few days before the accident he had visited Machu Picchu, one the Seven Wonders.
Following 16 months in intensive care, he was transferred to complex continuing care facility, where he returned to his U of G studies – mostly through distance education. His story was featured in the Fall 2017 issue of Portico.
During a visit to Mexico’s fabled Chichen Itza, another of the Seven Wonders, Cumpson learned firsthand about the barriers to travel the disabled face. He was determined to break them down.