Dick And Rick Hoyt: Father And Son Who Don’t Know The Word “impossible”
Hardly anyone talks about Dick and Rick Hoyt as if they were two separate individuals. When referring to them, most of the time they simply say: the Hoyt. Dick is the father and Rick is the son. The two made such a wonderful team that they became an example to thousands of people around the world.
It all started in Winchister, USA, almost five decades ago. Hoyt’s father and mother were going to have their firstborn and were waiting impatiently for him. However, what would be the happiest moment of their lives turned into a nightmare. The baby had problems at birth. During delivery, the umbilical cord wrapped itself around the baby’s neck and prevented oxygen from reaching his brain normally.
The consequence of all this was that the little one suffered a brain injury that could not be reversed. Then he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Doctors indicated that Rick Hoyt, the newborn, would never be able to speak or control the movements of his extremities.
Tough times for Dick and Rick Hoyt
When little Rick Hoyt was just nine months old, doctors reunited with the family. They said it would be better to put the baby in a specialized institution. For them it would be a burden, as the baby was doomed to live practically like a vegetable. However, after a lot of thinking and a multitude of days of crying, the parents decided to keep the baby. Furthermore, they also decided that to the extent of their possibilities they would raise him as a normal child.
For 11 years, father and mother Hoyt have given little Rick their love and care. Just as the doctors had said, he didn’t seem to respond to any stimuli from the environment. However, one day they realized that the boy was following them with his eyes wherever they went. They thought he also understood a lot of what they were saying.
This small gesture filled them with optimism. So, they decided to look for the engineering department at Tufts University, in Massachusetts, United States. They wanted to know if there was any device or any means to be able to communicate with the boy. Experts told them no, as the boy had no brain activity. The parents asked them to tell a joke, and when they did, Rick started to laugh.
A new path of hope
Engineers were impressed by the reaction. So they set out to create a system so that he could communicate with a little movement of his head. A year later everything was ready. Everyone was waiting anxiously for Rick’s first words. To everyone’s surprise, those words were: “Come on Bruins!” He was referring to a local hockey team.
Then began a new phase for Hoyt. Everyone was delighted to be able to communicate with Rick. They were even more fascinated when they noticed that the boy was very active and sensitive. He wanted to participate in everything. One day, one of the teachers at the school became paralyzed. A race was then organized to raise funds for her treatment. Rick said he wanted to participate. He needed to help this person who was going through such a situation.
the miracle of the Hoyts
The father agreed to run with his son in the race. The boy was in a wheelchair and Dick was pushing him. The challenge was complicated and difficult. The demand was high and it seemed impossible to get around the obstacles on the way. However, the only goal was not to finish last. They did it. When they crossed the finish line, Rick had a big smile on his lips.
Rick later told his father something he would never forget. The phrase was: “In competition I felt that my incapacity had disappeared”. He wanted to feel that feeling of crossing the finish line again and again. In 1979, Rick and Dick, the Hoyt team, competed in the Boston Marathon.
A few years later, they decided to try triathlon. There was only one problem: the father couldn’t swim. The solution? Learn. At nearly 50 years of age, Dick learned to swim so he could compete with his son. This time, he would push him into a boat to complete competition on the water. Nothing made Rick happier than participating in this new competition. Whenever he crosses the finish line, even in the last positions, he has a huge smile on his face.
To date, the Hoyts have participated in 66 different marathons and completed another 975 races. Rick graduated from Boston University. The boy loves his father as much as the father loves him. He is a happy boy, who likes to play games. He currently lives alone and declares himself a happy man.
