To view the video: under video, google CAN.
What does a farther do when his
son, who has never been out of a wheelchair, says he loves to race? He becomes his boy’s hands and feet. That was the day the “Team Hoyt” was
born. Dick brought Rick a more
sophisticated racing chair.
Rick was born in 1962 to Dick and
Judy Hoyt. As a result of oxygen deprivation to Rick’s brain at the time of his
birth, Rick was diagnosed as a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy. Dick
and Judy were advised to institutionalize Rick because there was no chance of
him recovering, and little hope for Rick to live a “normal” life. This was just
the beginning of Dick and Judy’s quest for Rick’s inclusion in community,
sports, education and one day, the workplace.
Dick and Judy soon realized that
though Rick couldn’t walk or speak; he was quite astute and his
eyes would
follow them around the room. They fought to integrate Rick into the public
school system, pushing administrators to see beyond Rick’s physical
limitations. Dick and Judy would take Rick sledding and swimming, and even
taught him the alphabet and basic words, like any other child. After providing
concrete evidence of Rick’s intellect and ability to learn like everyone else,
Dick and Judy needed to find a way to help Rick communicate for himself.
With $5,000 in 1972 and a skilled
group of engineers at Tufts University, an interactive computer was built for
Rick. This computer consisted of a cursor being used to highlight every letter
of the alphabet. Once the letter Rick wanted was highlighted, he was able to
select it by just a simple tap with his head against a head piece attached to
his wheelchair. When the computer was originally first brought home, Rick
surprised everyone with his first words. Instead of saying, “Hi, Mom,” or “Hi,
Dad,” Rick’s first “spoken” words were: “Go, Bruins!” The Boston Bruins were in
the Stanley Cup finals that season. It was clear from that moment on, that Rick
loved sports and followed the game just like anyone else.
 |
| Rick graduated from Boston College in 1993 with a degree in special education. |
In 1975, at the age of 13, Rick
was finally admitted into public school. After high school, Rick attended
Boston University, and he graduated with a degree in Special Education in 1993.
Dick retired in 1995 as a Lt. Colonel from the Air National Guard, after
serving his country for 37 years.
In the spring of 1977, Rick told
his father that he wanted to participate in a 5-mile benefit run for a Lacrosse
player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Far from being a long-distance
runner, Dick agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair and they finished all 5
miles, coming in next to last. That night, Rick told his father, “Dad, when I’m
running, it feels like I’m not handicapped.”
This realization was just the
beginning of what would become over 1,000 races completed, including marathons,
duathlons and triathlons (6 of them being Ironman competitions). Also adding to
their list of achievements, Dick and Rick biked and ran across the U.S. in
1992, completing a full 3,735 miles in 45 days.
In a triathlon, Dick will pull
Rick in a boat with a bungee cord attached to a vest around his waist and to
the front of the boat for the swimming stage. For the biking stage, Rick will
ride a special two-seater bicycle, and then Dick will push Rick in his custom
made running chair (for the running stage).
Rick was once asked, if he could
give his father one thing, what would it be? Rick responded, “The thing I’d most like is for my dad to
sit in the chair and I would push him for once.”
The 2009 Boston Marathon was
officially Team Hoyt’s 1000th race. Rick always says if it comes down to doing
one race a year he would like it to be the Boston Marathon: his favorite race.
2013 was going to be Dick and
Rick's last Boston Marathon together, but they were not able to finish due to
the bombings. They vowed to be back in 2014 to finish "Boston Strong"
with all the other runners, which they did; stopping many times along the 26.2
distance to take photos and shake hands of the many well-wishers, and finishing
with several of the runners from their Hoyt Foundation Boston Marathon team.
