Announcing the Recipients of the 2025 Rick & Amanda Hansen Scholarship for Youth with Disabilities!
Congratulations to the 2025 recipients of the Rick & Amanda Hansen Scholarship for Youth with Disabilities! The Rick & Amanda Hansen Scholarship for Youth with Disabilities, funded generously by the April 1 Foundation, provides financial support to Canadian youth with disabilities to pursue post-secondary education and realize their full potential.
Although the Rick & Amanda Hansen Scholarship for Youth with Disabilities is open to all post-secondary programs, from the educational aspirations of our four recipients this year, it is clear the impact healthcare professionals make on the lives of people with disabilities.
Read more about the four 2025 recipients below and join us in celebrating their achievements and career goals!
Adriana MacNeil
 | Adriana MacNeil has always been inspired by compassionate care in the medical system. Adriana lives with hemifacial microsomia (underdevelopment of one side of the face), single-sided deafness, and limited mobility due to vertebral malformations. She has been an active participant on the student council and volunteered on many committees and fundraisers during her high school years. With this lived experience comes a wide variety of medical appointments, she has experienced firsthand the impact that empathetic and caring medical professionals can have on the patient’s experience. This fall, Adriana will be starting a biomedical biology program at Laurentian University with the goal of becoming a radiation therapist, hoping to support patients in their health journeys and provide the same care she received. |
Neave Alderson
 | When Neave Alderson was in elementary school, she was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a type of cancer that appears in the bones or soft tissue. For Neave, it was in her right femur. As a result, Neave now uses a wheelchair. Neave says that while the doctors saved her life, it was the nurses who gave her life. Wanting to be that person for others, and after exploring her interests during high school, Neave will be pursuing a practical nursing degree at Flemming College Peterborough this fall. She hopes to become a nurse and emulate the respect and love that she received as a patient and pass that on to others. |
Sahra Dahir
 | Sahra Dahir has spent her life advocating for students with hearing loss in schools. After being diagnosed with hearing loss at age three, she has faced barriers in school. She has been an active participant in many extracurricular activities, including the Toronto Youth in Policing Initiative and participating in the 2023-2024 Communication Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing where she spoke about how being optimistic and resilient can influence how we perceive our world. Sahra has decided to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing that is run between Toronto Metropolitan University and George Brown College. Sahra wants to become a health professional who provides compassionate care to her patients. Further, Sahra as a Muslim woman of Somali decent who wears cochlear implants, has witnessed how language and barriers can impact a patient’s quality of care and hopes to use her education and experience to remove these challenges for others. |
Madison Thornhill
 | Madison Thornhill wants to make a difference in the lives of those she encounters. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Acadia University this fall, seeking to become a Nurse Practitioner and provide patient centered care. Growing up with a chronic illness of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, Madison has always advocated for herself and others. At age 11, she made a PowerPoint for her doctors to convince them that she could play volleyball after they told her she was too sick. She went on to captain three teams. She has also worked as a counsellor at a camp for children with chronic illness where she helped create inclusive, accessible programming. It was these experiences that led her to nursing. |
Applications are currently closed and will re-open for the 2026/27 academic year in early 2026. Visit our web page to learn more.
