A Paralympic skier from British Columbia, who lost the use of his legs performing a front flip eight years ago, has become the first skier to ever land a back flip on a sit ski.

The feat was filmed and the video has gone viral, catching the attention of U.S. sports network ESPN and talk show host Ellen Degeneres.

Josh Dueck has been paralyzed from the waist down since 2004, when he broke his back performing a front flip at the Silver Star resort in Vernon, B.C.

The 31-year-old rehabbed his way back onto the slopes, winning multiple medals at the X Games and a silver medal at the 2010 Paralympics in Vancouver.

But he dreamed of once again getting air time by completing a back flip while riding his sit ski. But he knew he had to be careful.

"The last thing that I want to do is to put myself in a worse situation than I'm already in," Dueck says in the video.

Two years ago, he set to work training, including landing practice flips in a foam pit and getting help from the coach of Canada's aerial ski team.

He then began practicing jumping off a ramp and landing on an air bag at a training area of Blackcomb Mountain.

A crew from Heli & Snowcat Skiing at Powder Mountain built Dueck a ramp off which to launch, and on Feb. 3, under sunny skies and surrounded by his friends, he landed the flip.

The feat was caught on film by Mike Douglas, who had earlier filmed a documentary about Dueck called "The Freedom Chair."

After seeing the video, Degeneres invited Dueck on her show. He appeared on Wednesday.

"The idea came eight years ago when I was lying in the hospital," Dueck told Degeneres. "'I can do a flip,'" Dueck told himself, "and my parents are like, ‘no, don't even.'"

The studio audience cheered when the video of Dueck's jump was played, and the talk show host called Dueck "an inspiration."

"I know a lot of people out there probably look at you and say, ‘well, if he can do this, I can do a whole lot more certainly,'" she said. "I admire you."

Degeneres presented Dueck with a helmet adorned with a camera and her show logo, as well as a jacket with the word "Freedom" across the front.

Dueck has the word tattooed across his abdomen, and he told Degeneres that it symbolizes "freedom of movement, and that freedom to express myself however I want.

"Some people have art, some people have music, some people have talk shows," he went on. "But it's my ability to express myself through movement, and that freedom that my ski gives me."

Dueck told CTV News that he continues to relive his remarkable feat.

"In lieu of my lower body, and even some of core, which I can't activate like I used to before, you see that I'm doing as much control with my arms and my outriggers," Dueck explained of his jump.

"To go out there and do a back flip, that was huge," he said. "That's full circle in my journey."

With a report from CTV's Vancouver bureau chief Sarah Galashan