This is one of the most touching videos I’ve seen. It’s been heralded as one of the greatest love stories of all time. It’s about a father and a son, and is worth watching every second.
Rick Hoyt was born with the umbilical cord around his neck, cutting off oxygen to his brain. The doctors said he would be in a vegetable state his whole life, and urged his parents to put him in an institution. But Rick’s dad refused, and brought him home to leave a full life. Together they have run 950 races, 60 marathons (25 of them Boston), and 6 Iron Man competitions. In the Iron man, you swim 2.4 miles, bike for 112 miles, then run for 26.2 miles.
Dick, his father, pushes, pulls, and carries him the entire way. Rick says (speaking through a computer): “When we are running it feels like I’m not disabled anymore.”
When asked what he’d like to do if he could do anything, his reply wasn’t to play basketball, or football, or hockey. His reply was that he’d have his dad sit in a wheelchair, so he could push him.
Dick’s simple reply, “I just want to be the very best father I can be”. In so doing, he sets a powerful example of fatherhood, and presents a powerful illustration of our relationship with our Heavenly Father, who pushes, pulls, and carries us through every step.
After viewing several others, I like this one the most:
[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS596VsNEOE]
shortened version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4B-r8KJhlE
Here’s a touching interview as Rick was nominated “Hero”.
[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyiApzjIuzw&]
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I have such a love for the Hoyt’s. Their devotion, endurance, charity and courage inspires all of us. Their lives testify of the great and divine power of the human spirit. The body is a temporary tabernacle. The spirit lives forever.