Imagine what you CAN do when you are inspired!!
Please read the following article and watch the video clip.
[From Sports Illustrated, By Rick Reilly]
I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay For their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.
But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.
Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in Marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a Wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and Pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.
Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back Mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. On a bike. Makes Taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?
And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life.This love story began in Winchester , Mass. , 43 years ago, when Rick Was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him Brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.
"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors told him And his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. ``Put him in an Institution.''
But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes Followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the Engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was Anything to help the boy communicate. ``No way,'' Dick says he was told. ``There's nothing going on in his brain.''
"Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a Lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed Him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his Head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? ``Go Bruins!'' And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the School organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, ``Dad, I want To do that.''
Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described ``porker'' who never ran More than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he Tried. ``Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. ``I was sore For two weeks.''
That day changed Rick's life. ``Dad,'' he typed, ``when we were running, It felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''
And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly Shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.
``No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a Single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few Years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then They found a way to get into the race Officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the Qualifying time for Boston the following year.
Then somebody said, ``Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''
How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he Was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick Tried.
Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii . It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud Getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you Think?
Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? ``No way,'' he says. Dick does it purely for ``the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with A cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.
This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best Time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world Record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to Be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the Time.
``No question about it,'' Rick types. ``My dad is the Father of the Century.''
And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a Mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries Was 95% clogged. ``If you hadn't been in such great shape,'' One doctor told him, ``you probably would've died 15 years ago.'' So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.
Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass. , always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.
That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.
``The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, ``is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.''
Sunday, October 26, 2008
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4 comments:
I tried to play the video but You-Tube said it was no longer available. Luckily I remembered it from the class I took this summer with Dan. This is such an awesome story. I remember the look on the boys face when he is on his dad's bike. He looked like he was in total peace.
It is truly amazing what people can do when they are inspired. I coach high school football and hope I inspire my kids one tenth the mount that Dick Hoyt inspires me when I watch this video. Imagine if you could translate that over to the classroom. I think we have an awesome responsibility to not only teach our students, but to inspire them to be whatever they want to. We need to remember that we influence children every day and we have a huge obligation to build up their minds, souls, and hearts.
What an inspirational story, I personally had tears in my eyes. I also tried to watch the video and it was no longer available. I will try to find it on U-Tube to see the story. Since I'm currently not teaching, I try to find ways to relate these articles to my everyday life. I'm a cancer survivor and was diagnosed when I was in my first year of college. I know how hard it was for me to balance 18 credits, get treatments, and complete homework. There were days that I literally thought I was going to die, but something inspired me. It was teaching. I loved seeing the faces of the students while I was volunteering at the area elementary school. I loved the look that they had while I was trying to help them and all of a sudden the light turned on. That inspired me to continue on fighting the cancer to become an outstanding teacher. Sometimes when we think we have it bad, like the Hoyt family, we truly are blessed by the battle that we have to fight and realize how life is so precious.
I really can't even imagine having to overcome such obstacles in life. As a parent, I think I face a few uphill battles just making sure my kids' homework is done. This story certainly puts those small things into perspective and makes me understand just how the right mindset and a great deal of hope can pull people through even the toughest and life-changing of situations.
What an inspiring story! I absolutely loved it. I felt bad that I couldn't actually see it on You-Tube. It is amazing what Dick Hoyt did! This really shows me the perfect example of what unconditional love is! Also, how family comes first! Everyone should read this story to be inspired to be a better parent! I think it was great how Rick wanted to give back to his Dad what he gave him all those years growing up: An awesome family, inspiration, support, and most of all unconditional love!
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