Aron Karl Riggert Anderson (born 26 January 1988) is a Swedish adventurer, motivational speaker and a paralympian-athlete. Anderson was the first wheelchair user to summit Sweden's highest mountain, Kebnekaise, and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.[1]
Biography
In January 1996, Anderson and his parents were told by doctors he had cancer in his lower back.[1] He was treated with chemotherapy and radiation throughout 1996 and early 1997.[2] The treatments did not work, and in late 1997 the cancer was removed surgically, at which time Anderson lost function in both legs.[2][3]
He competes as a celebrity dancer in Let's Dance 2022, which is broadcast by TV4.[4] He is also the first dancer to use a wheelchair on the show.[5]
Athletics
Aron Anderson at Vasaloppet in 2015
Aron Anderson became a para-athlete in three different sports, sailing, athletics and sledge-hockey and has participated in four Paralympic Games.[6] Between 1999 and 2005, he competed in sailing, he stopped competing after the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, Greece.[7] He instead started fully competing in athletics and sledge-hockey.[7]
In 2012, he was forced to stop competing in athletics as he had to undergo a hip operation which made it impossible for him to compete at elite level.[8] He also stopped playing sledge-hockey after the World Championships in 2013, to set his mind on only adventures and lecturing.[9]
Adventuring
On 1 August 2013, he was the first wheelchair user to climb to the top of Kebnekaise, Sweden's highest mountain,[8] using crutches and "crawling" with his arms.[3] He is also the first person in a wheelchair to have climbed to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro.[8] The expedition was led by adventurer Johan Ernst Nilson.[10] He reached the peak at 15.00 (CET) on 1 August 2013.[11] In 2014, he decided to complete a Swedish Classic, in which he competed in and finished the long-distance endurance events of Vasaloppet, Vätternrundan, Vansbrosimmet and the Lidingöloppet during one year, this also as the first wheelchair user.[12] On 7 August 2015, he swam in 14 degree water for 37 kilometers over the sea of Åland between Grissleham to Åland, a swim that took him 13 hours to complete.[13] In 2019, Anderson competed in the competition show Vinnarskallar which was broadcast on TV4, where he competed against other Swedish para-athletes.[14] He won the show.[15] He has also skied through Antarctica, a monthlong journey and the first person in a wheelchair to do it.[16][17][18] In December 2018, Anderson joined with singer Peg Parnevik to be ambassadors for Musikhjälpen which was broadcast on SVT and on radio for Sveriges Radio.[19]
Anderson works as a motivational speaker.[20][21] He is also an ambassador for Barncancerfonden, a children's cancer foundation, and has through his adventures also helped to raise money for the cause.[22][17] In 2017, Anderson presented an episode of the radio show Sommar i P1, speaking about his struggles and successes in life.[23][24]