father-son dynamic duo

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Heart Connection

And all of that racing literally saved his father’s life. The hours and hours of training and events allowed Dick to become incredibly fit and attuned to his body—especially his heart.

In February 2003, while training for the Boston Marathon, Dick felt what he calls a tickle in his throat. A month later, after five more races, the tickle was still there. So he went to his primary care physician, Stephanie E. Keaney, M.D., for an EKG. She examined his EKG and recommended he visit a cardiologist. During that follow-up, Joel M. Gore, M.D., found that Dick had suffered a mild heart attack and needed an angioplasty and stents—immediately—because Dick had 80–95 percent blockage in the arteries leading to the heart.

“I don’t think he would be around if he hadn’t been exercising,” Gore says. “There’s little doubt in my mind that’s what kept him going. He was in incredible cardiovascular shape, despite the blockages in his arteries.”

The doctors determined that Dick’s situation most likely was caused by poor genetics. Diet certainly wasn’t the culprit: He sticks to a pretty strict regimen of oatmeal and fruits for breakfast, salads for lunch, and rice and veggies with chicken at dinner. Exercise obviously wasn’t an issue either; because of all his training, Dick was able to endure stress tests until the doctors got bored watching and told him to stop.

The exercise that saved his life also helped him recover quickly. Though he had to miss that year’s Boston Marathon, he did resume training four weeks after his procedure. And the following October, he and Rick were in Hawaii, participating in an Ironman triathlon.

“There was a little damage to my heart, but not anything major,” Dick says. “The doctors told me that when I’m gone, my heart will keep going for 10 years.”

Dick’s heart has been pushing for Rick since he was born.

A Spark from Within
Rick’s life began with a tragic irony. At birth, the umbilical cord that had provided him sustenance in the womb wrapped around his neck and reduced the flow of oxygen to his brain. Born as a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, Rick couldn’t use his arms, legs, or voice.

“When he was a child, the doctors wanted him put in an institution,” Dick says. “He’s now 45 years old, a graduate of high school and college.”

Despite the doctors’ advice, Dick and his ex-wife, Judy, decided to raise him as normally as possible. With two younger brothers, Rick’s routines became part of family life. By the time he was about 5 years old, his parents believed that regardless of the cerebral palsy and inability to speak or control his arms and legs, Rick was, indeed, an intelligent child.

“When we’d talk to him and look into his eyes, we’d see that he understood what we were saying,” Dick says.

Whether it was parents’ intuition or a firm belief in the kind of support they could provide him, they forged ahead with his education. They taught him the alphabet and eventually pressed to have him in public school. The biggest obstacle for Rick was communicating.