"Team Hoyt" Mesmerizes Montrosians
LifePortraits Speakers Dick and Rick Hoyt inspire audience with their amazing story of triumph.
Montrose students and guests were mesmerized by recent LifePortraits Speakers Dick and Rick Hoyt. “Team Hoyt” spoke to a packed Arts & Athletics Center about how they chose to live life to its fullest, despite Rick’s cerebral palsy and its accompanying challenges. The father and son team shared their story through videos, personal comments and in Rick’s case, his specialized computer which gives the non-verbal man a voice.
Dick Hoyt told the rapt students and guests the story of how he and his wife chose to ignore the recommendation that they institutionalize Rick as an infant because he would “never be anything but a vegetable.” “Rick is fifty-three years old and we still haven’t figured out what kind of vegetable he is,” he joked. Knowing that Rick was keenly aware of all that was going on around him but unable to communicate, the family paid researchers at Tufts University to develop a computer that would allow Rick to express himself to the world. Today, Rick’s two methods of communication are his computer with voice synthesizer and the alphabet system devised when Rick was twelve by his eight year-old brother who was eager to converse with him.
Dick Hoyt explained how Rick asked him to run in a race while pushing Rick in his wheelchair. Dick, despite being only a casual runner, said yes. “That first race was five miles long and we came in second to last, but after it, Rick told me, ‘When I’m racing, I feel like my disability disappears,’” said Dick. Team Hoyt continued to enter races, and today have completed seventy-two marathons, including thirty-two Boston Marathons. They have also completed six Ironman Triathlons and traveled as far away as Japan to compete. Team Hoyt has been inducted into the Marine Corps Marathon Hall of Fame (2013) and into the Ironman Triathlon Hall of Fame (2008) and all told have completed 1,118 races together.
Rick’s indomitable spirit and determination drove him to become the first quadriplegic to graduate from Boston University, and to be an inspiration to countless people across the globe. Dick Hoyt noted that because of Team Hoyt’s participation in half triathlons in Japan in 1994 and 1995, Japan has now reevaluated the way in which it cares for its citizens with disabilities.
Montrosians were deeply affected by Team Hoyt’s presentation. Gabby Landry ’18, in a note of thanks to the Hoyts, wrote, “Please know that you both had an incredible impact on me and the other students with your message today. Several times, especially during the videos, I came close to tears because of the way you have both faced the struggles you've encountered. Thank you for coming to our school and sharing your incredible message with us.”
An independent school for girls in grades 6-12 guided by the teachings of the Catholic Church.
