He finished more than a thousand road races with his son Rick, who was in a wheelchair. They were best known for competing in the Boston Marathon.
Dick Hoyt, who became a familiar sight pushing his son Rick in a wheelchair at road races around the country, especially the Boston Marathon, died on Wednesday at his home in Holland, Mass. He was 80.
His death was announced by the Boston Athletic Association, which organizes the Boston Marathon. His son Russ said the cause was congestive heart failure.
Rick Hoyt was born in 1962 as a quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, unable to move or communicate. “We had long ago learned how to read our son’s grins and nods,” Dick Hoyt wrote in “Devoted: The Story of a Father’s Love for His Son,” published in 2010. “But no matter how proficient everyone in the family was at determining what Rick needed, we were still merely making informed guesses.”
However, in 1972, engineers at Tufts University created a computer that allowed Rick to communicate by tapping his head to choose letters. His first words were “Go Bruins,” indicating a strong interest in sports.
Sending our love and prayers to the family at this time! Please SHARE to this man gets the recognition he deserves.
