CAN

These two men are an inspiration to me as a runner and human being. This is Team Hoyt. They are a father, Dick, and son, Rick, team who compete together in sporting events including the ultimate test of human endurance: the ironman triathlon. The ironman triathlon consists of 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of cycling, and a 26.2 mile marathon. During each of these events, Dick pulls his Rick in a special boat when swimming, Rick rides in a special seat placed on the extended front portion of the bike as Dick peddles, then Dick pushes his son in his wheelchair when running. Dick is the body of the team, but Rick is the heart.

When Rick was born, his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck cutting of oxygen to his brain. Rick's father recalls, "When he was eight months old the doctors told us we should just put him away — he’d be a vegetable all his life, that sort of thing. Well those doctors are not alive any more, but I would like them to be able to see Rick now." Dick and his wife could tell that Rick could understand them. However, Rick could not communicate with them. A group of Tufts University engineers came to the rescue, once they had seen some clear, empirical evidence of Rick’s comprehension skills. "They told him a joke," said Dick. "Rick just cracked up. They knew then that he could communicate!" The engineers went on to build — using $5,000 the family managed to raise in 1972 - an interactive computer that would allow Rick to write out his thoughts using the slight head-movements that he could manage. Rick came to call it "my communicator." A cursor would move across a screen filled with rows of letters, and when the cursor highlighted a letter that Rick wanted, he would click a switch with the side of his head.

In 1975, Rick was finally admitted into a public school. Two years later, he told his father he wanted to participate in a five-mile benefit run for a local lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Dick, far from being a long-distance runner, agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair. They finished next to last, but they felt they had achieved a triumph. After the race, Rick told his father that he felt alive when they were racing. They have come a long way since this five mile race. Rick’s own accomplishments, quite apart from the duo’s continuing athletic success, have included his moving on from high school to Boston University, where he graduated in 1993 with a degree in special education.

Dick Hoyt said, “Our message is yes you can. You can do anything you want to do as long as you make up your mind you can do it.”



Philippians 4:13 – "I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me."