Heroes of Hope: Dick and Rick Hoyt

Dick and Rick Hoyt (Photo Credit: TeamHoyt.com)The Story:

Rick Hoyt was born in 1962 to his parents Dick and Judy. Due to complications during his birth, Rick’s brain was deprived of oxygen and he became a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy. According to one medical specialist, Rick should be sent to an institution since he would never lead a “normal” life in society. Dick and Judy refused to believe this. The way that Rick’s eyes would follow them around, they knew that there was an intelligent person hidden by his inability to walk or speak. Dick and Judy treated Rick just like any other child; they took him sledding and swimming, taught him the alphabet, and fought administrators to accept him into the public school system. When Rick was 10, a team of engineers at Tufts University built him a specialized computer that allowed him tap a head piece to choose a letter and carefully spell out his words. With his new ability to communicate, Dick and Judy’s belief in their son’s intelligence was confirmed.

The Inspiration:

Dick and Rick Competing in their First Boston Marathon in 1981 (Photo Credit: TeamHoyt.com)In the Spring of 1977, when Rick was only 15, he told his father that he wanted to participate in a 5-mile run to benefit a college student recently paralyzed in a lacrosse match. Through the Race for Doogie, Rick wanted to prove that life goes on after a disability. With Rick secured in a rudimentary wheelchair, Dick pushed his son all 5-miles to complete the race. Although they finished second to last, their accomplishment was life changing; as Rick carefully typed out, “Dad, when I am running, I don’t even feel like I am handicapped.” So began the journey of Team Hoyt.

Now, nearly four decades later, Team Hoyt has completed over 1,100 races including not only 5Ks and 10Ks, but also half marathons, marathons, triathlons, and Ironmans. In 1992, Rick and Dick biked and ran 3,770 miles across the U.S. in only 45 days. Together, they have given hope to those living with disabilities and have inspired millions of people across the world.

Neither Rick, now 51, nor Dick, now 73, show signs of slowing down. In fact, according to Rick, “Stopping now is not an option, I’m not ready to throw in the towel and I pray to God every day that Dad is not ready either. Birds are free to fly anywhere they want at anytime, which is how I feel when we race. There are so many people who want to see us out there. I love the spotlight…I have shown disabled people that they don’t have to sit back and watch the world go by…To this day, I don’t know what kind of vegetable I’m supposed to be.”

Learn More: 

To learn more about Team Hoyt and the Hoyt Foundation, check out the video below to see them in action and browse these links. 

Team Hoyt’s Website

Gary Smith, Sports Illustrated Vault: “The Wheels of Life.”

Also, for even more, check out these books: 

“One Letter at a Time,” by Rick Hoyt with Todd Civin

“Devoted—The Story of a Father’s Love for his Son,” by Dick Hoyt with Don Yaeger

Hero of Hope: Dick Traum

The Story:

When Dick Traum was only 24 years old he was hit by a car and his right leg had to be amputated. Although Traum had always been an athlete and even wrestled while in college, he did not let this injury interrupt his life. As Traum remembers, “Somehow, I wasn’t upset. When you lose a leg, there’s no ambiguity…You get an artificial leg and keep going.” This determination and grit led Traum to become the first amputee to run the New York City Marathon in 1976. This was, “probably the best day of my life,” he says, “I thought, this joy can be shared with others too.”

By achieving his goal of running the Marathon and constantly challenging his limits, Traum became an inspiration for others to do the same. With Traum’s achievement in mind, Terry Fox, a 21-year-old Canadian who, due to cancer also had lost a leg, embarked on his Marathon of Hope in 1980. Fox ran more than 3,300 miles across Canada, averaging about 26 miles each day, to fundraise for cancer research. Fox passed away in 1981 but not before he raised millions of dollars and worldwide awareness for finding a cure for cancer. After competing in a race in Fox’s memory, Traum decided to start a non-profit, dubbed Achilles International, “to bring hope, inspiration, and the joys of achievement to people with disabilities.”

The Inspiration:

Achilles International has grown into a worldwide organization represented in 70 countries and has helped over 10,000 disabled athletes compete. At weekly gatherings, the organization pairs able-bodied volunteers with disabled runners, including many who use hand-crank wheelchairs. Together, they set goals and, supported by the Achilles community, train to achieve them. While the ultimate goal may be running a marathon or a 5K, the road to the finish line often starts more modestly. For one of Achilles’ runners, Andre De Mello, her first goal was walk from one of Central Park’s lampposts to another. A stroke that she suffered at age 10 made walking this distance nearly an impossible feat. However, through her hard work and encouragement from Traum and Achilles, she walked six lampposts, then eight, and, one year after she began, she completed the NYC Marathon. De Mello is one of Achilles’ many stories of success and has finished 20 marathons to date.

As Traum sums up Achilles’ mission, “We’re giving people an opportunity to achieve. When one achieves it sets off the ‘Well, if I can do this, I can probably do that too’ response. It improves the level of aspiration. When people come together it creates a cohesive group and makes everything a little better.” Traum is the definition of a Hero of Hope and he is truly an inspiration to us all.

Learn More:

For more about Dick Traum or Achilles International, check out the below articles that were used in writing this bio or follow the link to Achilles International’s website. Also, don’t forget to check out the video of Traum in his feature as a CNN Hero.

Achilles International's website

Kathleen Toner, CNN: “Amputee pushes disabled athletes to aspire for more.”

Kia Makarechi, Huffington Post: “HuffPost Greatest Person of the Day: Dr. Dick Trau Inspires Disabled, Veterans, Athletes.”

New Public Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: “Faces of Public Health: Richard Traum”