Rick Hoyt was strangled by his umbilical cord during birth. The lack of oxygen during that struggle caused brain damage, leaving him with cerebral palsy. His parents were told to institutionalize him, that he would be a vegetable with little or no comprehension of the world around him. But Dick, his father, said, “No, we’re not going to do that. We’re going to bring Rick home and bring him up like any other child.” Although they were told that “nothing” was going on in Rick’s brain, when he was eleven they took him to Tufts University. They asked several engineers … Continue reading →