World's strongest dad

[Rookie]

Amazing story, but I can't watch the video without crying...

World's Strongest Dad | whoisthemonkey.com

 

[Dogman]

Saw a story on tv about them, At least I think it was the same ones.

That's what you call love.

 

[Bigum1969]

That story brings tears to my eyes.

The man and his son were in Evansville a couple of years ago for a fundraising event. Amazing story.

 

[Cwood]

Now that was POWERFUL!

Was a real tearjerker

 

[rhino]

Synopsis for those with dial-up, please?

 

[Pami]

Synopsis for those with dial-up, please?

Here's the story without the video.

[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.''

 

[Cwood]

Synopsis for those with dial-up, please?

see above....

LOL Pami beat me to it

 

[Bill of Rights]

Click the link, Rhino. There is a video, yes, but there is also a writeup. In short, the father, presently age 65, pushes his son who is disabled from birth, in marathon runs, pulls him along when he completes triathlons, and due to being in such great shape at his son's urging and request, the mild heart attack the father had a few years ago did not kill him. His body presumably did a natural "bypass" of the blocked area.

Phenomenal story.

Blessings,
B

ETA: or read Pami's cut/paste of the story... that works, too.

 

[rhino]

Thanks for the story ...

I've read about them before! I didn't realize they'd been doing it for so long, though.

It's truly an amazing story about a bond between a father and his son.

 

[Benny]

That is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.

Amazing story, but I can't watch the video without crying...

World's Strongest Dad | whoisthemonkey.com

I was going to make fun of you until I read/watched it.

 

[flagtag]

Anyone who can read that story and/or watch the video without tearing up has to totally cold and heartless.

That was so beautiful! Thank you for the link.

 

[ATM]

I first saw one of their videos as a follow up to a church service. Different emotions but mostly... conviction to be less selfish as a parent. What a great example of loving sacrifice leading to joy. Good post

 

[flagtag]

I first saw one of their videos as a follow up to a church service. Different emotions but mostly... conviction to be less selfish as a parent. What a great example of loving sacrifice leading to joy. Good post

I think they BOTH benefited.

 

[mustangmaniac92]

OK, me being 6'3... 273 lbs. I cried like a scalded dog!!! That's the inspirational story of the year..... and many more to come!!!

 

[mconley]

JUST AMAZING, NOTHING ELSE COULD BE SAID... YOU KNOW WE ALL SAY WE WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR OUR KIDS BUT YOU NEVER REALLY KNOW IF THAT IS TRUE UNTILL IT IS TESTED. A+ FOR THIS DAD

 

[Caleb]

wow...I'm not prone to tearing up so easily but I could not resist, that's true love!

 

[flagtag]

There is a special place in Heaven for both of them!

 

[Benny]

I've been spreading this amazing story around...I have yet to find someone that didn't at least tear up.

I'm pretty sure if you don't, you have no soul.

 

[flagtag]

Got that right!