Team Hoyt
The Team Hoyt from Massachusetts , USA, consists of father ( Dick Hoyt , born 1940) and son ( Rick Hoyt , born on January 10, 1962), which together in marathons , triathlons attend athletic and other challenges. Rick has had infantile cerebral palsy since he was born - because his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, his brain was not adequately oxygenated. In the sporting competitions, Dick carries, pulls or pushes his paralyzed son with him in special wheels , wheelchairs or inflatables .
Rick's doctors initially predicted he would never be cognitive , which his parents ignored. At the age of twelve, engineers at Tufts University , Medford, Massachusetts , recognized his sense of humor and demonstrated his intelligence . Rick was taught to use a special computer for communication that he operated by moving his head. His first written words were "Go Bruins!" (Referring to the Boston Bruins ice hockey team ); only now did Rick's parents find out about his enthusiasm for sports.
Dick Hoyt is a retired Lt. Col. in the Air National Guard . Rick Hoyt graduated from Boston University and now works at Boston College . Both take part in sporting competitions to this day (November 2009) and appear as so-called motivational speakers. By June 2009, Team Hoyt had participated in over 1000 sporting events, including a. in 229 triathlons (including six Ironman ), 20 duathlons and 66 marathons. The 1000th participation was the Boston Marathon in 2009. On a bike tour through the USA in 1992 they covered 6010 km in 45 days.
When asked what Rick wished he could do for his father, he replied, "What I would like to do most is put my father in the chair and I would push him once."
Web links
- http://www.teamhoyt.com/ - Official website