During competition, Dick pulled Rick in a boat during swims, carried him in a seat in the front of a bicycle, and pushed him in a wheelchair as they ran.

Rick Hoyt was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth after his umbilical cord became twisted around his neck, which caused the blockage of oxygen flow.

[5] His parents held on to the fact that Rick's eyes would follow them around the room, giving them hope that he would somehow be able to communicate someday.

He later worked at Boston College in Prof. James Gips's EagleEyes Project computer lab helping to develop systems to aid in communication and other tasks for people with disabilities.

Rick's unique approach to identifying words with verbal prompts was used as a basis for the Boston College EagleEyes project's communication software.

[8] Team Hoyt began in 1977 when Rick asked his father if they could run in a race together to benefit a lacrosse player at his school who had become paralyzed.

[3] Also adding to their list of achievements, Dick and Rick biked and ran across the U.S. in 1992, completing a full 3,735 miles (6,011 km) in 45 days.

[7] In the 2013 Boston Marathon, Team Hoyt had about a mile to go when two bombs exploded near the finish line; they were stopped by officials, along with thousands of other runners still running the race.