When former Olympic skier Mike Nemesvary was paralyzed by a training accident in 1985, he found a friend in Princess Diana.
Now he wants to pay her kindness forward with a special gift for the late princess' son and daughter-in-law when they visit Canada this week.
Nemesvary plans to present a framed handwritten letter he received from the Princess of Wales in 1986 to royal newlyweds William and Kate when they arrive at Ottawa's Rideau Hall on Thursday.
"It is a prized possession," Nemesvary told CTV's Canada AM in an interview from Ottawa. "For her to just give a handwritten letter means a lot."
The glass-encased letter, written on Charles and Diana's stationary, will be accompanied by a 1986 newspaper clipping featuring Nemesvary and Diana. He also plans to give the royal couple a copy of his most recent film, "Round the World Challenge."
In the early 1980s, Nemesvary was a world champion freestyler skier in Britain and Canada known for his high-flying acrobatic exploits. His stunt career ended in 1985 after breaking his spinal cord in a trampoline accident, becoming a quadriplegic.
Since then he's been a tireless advocate for spinal cord injury research, raising millions through his charity "Back-up Trust" and starring in a British documentary on his recovery titled "Same Game, Different Rules."
That documentary would eventually inspire a royal friendship, said Nemesvary who was contacted by the Princess of Wales after she watched the film.
"Out of the blue, I got this beautiful letter over here from Diana just remarking on how touched she was by the documentary," said Nemesvary.
Twenty-five years ago, the two met for the first time at the London Ski Show in England. Nemesvary said he appreciated how Diana ran over to him and knelt down to have a conversation at eye level.
Nemesvary says Diana mentioned that her young son William was inspired by the documentary chronicling his life as a world-class skier.
Princess Diana would meet with Nemesvary several times more before her death in 1997. She was an avid supporter of Nemesvary's spinal cord research charity – though she didn't raise money for the organization.
When Nemesvary heard the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were organizing an eight-day trip to Canada, he said he felt compelled to bring his royal friendship full circle.
"[The letter] reminds me, as well as everybody else, of better times," he said.
William and Kate will spend two nights in Ottawa, where they'll be presented with Nemesvary's gift. After that, the royal couple will head off to Montreal, Quebec City and east to Charlottetown. Twenty-four hours later they will be in the Northwest Territories before finishing the tail end of their Canadian tour in Calgary.
