Rick Hoyt was born unable to use his voice, arms or legs in 1962. Doctors advised his parents to send him away, but they chose to raise Rick themselves.
With great effort, Rick learned to write his thoughts with computer at the age of 12. One day in1977, Rick told his father that he wanted to run in a 5-mile race to raise money to help a schoolmate. Though his father never ran more than a mile at a time, he still tried. He completed (完成) the race with his father pushing the wheelchair(轮椅), finishing next to last. But that changed Rick's life. "Dad, when we were running, I feel like I wasn't disabled anymore!"
And that sentence changed his. father. He continued to give Rick that feeling as often as possible. In 1980, his father and he joined in Boston Marathon (马拉松) and together they completed32 Boston Marathons, they also participated in more than 1,000 other races. In 1992 they completed a run and bike race across the US that covered 3,735 miles in 45 days.
In March 2021, his father passed away. In May 2023, Rick died. Rick, along with his father, inspired (激励) millions of people with disabilities to believe in themselves, set goals and complete something unexpected.
