A memorable event on Memorial Day

At the 5k run held in memory of our veterans on Memorial Day, I had the fortune to meet Team Hoyt CDA. A racing wheelchair nonprofit company for the disabled. There are apparently only nine chapters in the USA.

It was started by Dick (father) and Rick Hoyt, their son with cerebral palsy. When he first learned to talk, the first words out of his mouth were “Go Bruins” and “Triathlon.” Dick was not much of a runner or biker at the time and certainly wasn’t a swimmer but to honor his son’s wishes he learned to swim and increased his stamina in running and biking and started entering triathlons and became famous for doing so and caring for his son in that manner.

• Team Hoyt participated in more than 250 triathlons.

• They also completed over 1,100 total endurance events, including six Ironman Triathlons and 32 Boston Marathons.

Imagine swimming with a raft behind you with your son laying in it, biking with a grown boy in a chair in front of you and pushing a cart in the last 26 miles and finishing before the cut time.

So how did we get a Team Hoyt chapter in Coeur d’Alene when Dick and Rick lived in Holland, Mass.? It was pretty serendipitous how it all happened.

Bryan and Natalie Langford of Hayden lost a son at age 8 to epilepsy 15 years ago. That formed a numbness in their world and a void that was hard to fill. 

When Conner was 7, the Langfords watched a video on YouTube entitled “Can Dick Hoyt — Only Imagine,” five minutes about the Hoyts' Ironman race in 2007. Bryan thought at the time, maybe I can do that with Conner. So, he started running, biking and swimming and became the featured athlete in our CDA Ironman of 2016. And at the finish line, Bryan met Laurie Aikins who had just founded a Hoyt Team in Coeur d’Alene. 

Laurie was handpicked by Dick and Rick Hoyt, themselves, to start Team Hoyt CDA. Laurie championed and organized the team on her own for years, heavily funding it herself. She built a strong team but had to leave the organization to care for family outside the county at which time the Langfords took over.

They now have seven racing chairs, which I had the opportunity to see in action at the 5K run/walk put on by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The run/walk went from the LDS chapel on Hanley to the new Coeur d’Alene temple site and back.

Team Hoyt only had five members when the Langfords took over and now they have 45. They offer an opportunity for the disabled to be cheered on in the races and offer family togetherness to the disabled community, but they need financial help. Not a lot but enough to cover the entrance race fees for the disabled which amount to about $700 per person times seven race chairs, $4,900 per year. They also want to pay for the pusher’s entrance fees which are about the same amount of $4,900 per year. Add on top of that some pizza parties and a budget of about $10,000 should make them financially secure. 

Businesses can sponsor a chair for a year and get their company logo on the race chairs. They race again in Sandpoint on June 13 at the 10 a.m. start at City Beach in the “Find Your Strength” event put on by Bonner General Hospital. They will also be in the Fourth of July CDA parade behind the beloved “Herbie” race car whose motto is “Everyone can Race.”

This is an example of another fine nonprofit making a difference in the lives of our citizens. To donate or to volunteer to be a race wheelchair pusher go to TeamHoytCDA.com and click on the donate button or contact Natalie Langford at [email protected].

Natalie says being involved in Team Hoyt has healed her in ways she didn’t believe could happen after the death of Conner. She had to resuscitate him so many times, she couldn’t count. And near the end he had 720 seizures in 12 hours. She and Bryan have taken action to help others. This was a memorable event for me on Memorial Day.

    Steven Tyson pushes Anette Enger in her wheelchair, while Iris Porter is pushed by a member of the Lake City cross-country team.