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Batavia man races in triathlon to mark father's road to recovery

When Erik Hultquist crosses the finish line Sunday at the ET Batavia Triathlon, his father, Brett, will be there to cheer him.

Brett's a supportive father, and he knows the effort the triathlon requires to accomplish, since he did it last year.

But for the Hultquist family, the fact Brett will be there at all is something of a miracle. And Erik is honoring his father with every step, stroke and pedal.

Out of nowhere

Brett Hultquist was a reasonably fit 57-year-old June 7, 2015. He was the superintendent for two golf clubs owned by Shodeen Inc. of Geneva. He exercised routinely at River West Family Fitness in Batavia, played golf and ran.

His “bucket list” included a triathlon, so he entered the one in Batavia and added swimming to his training.

He finished the triathlon in a respectable 1 hour, 42 minutes. He wasn't the fastest middle-aged guy on the course, but he wasn't last.

Brett and his wife, Sharon, stuck around for some post-race festivities, and then she left to get their car, while he went to retrieve his bicycle.

“He never came back,” Sharon said.

She eventually found him struggling to push the bicycle. He didn't answer her questions. In the car, he kept waving his arms. At home, he turned lights on and off, and kept opening the refrigerator but not closing it. Sensing something was wrong, she took him to Delnor Hospital.

He had suffered a stroke.

Doctors now suspect that a niggling pain he felt in a leg for a week was due to a blood clot, and that clot had broken free and caused the stroke.

He was given a drug to dissolve the blockage, then transferred to Central DuPage Hospital. He was able to talk again and all seemed fine.

But later that day, he suffered complications that required brain surgery.

Doctors told Sharon his condition was dire ­— “and if he gets better, he won't walk or talk again,” she said.

Proven wrong

“But we are here and we are standing,” Sharon Hultquist said Wednesday, with Brett and Erik by her side.

Brett overcame the odds. After seven months of therapy at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Center in Wheaton, he walks without assistance. But he lost the peripheral vision in one eye and can't use one hand. The stroke damaged the part of his brain responsible for communication, including reading and speaking. He has been unable to return to work.

But he is determined to continue the fight to recover. That includes resuming therapy, and soon he will try wearing a wireless electrical-stimulation device on his hand, to activate the nerves that control it.

“One day, one day, one day,” Brett said, about regaining use.

For a while, life piled other burdens on the family.

While Brett was still in the hospital, a torrential rainstorm caused their basement to flood.

When he was preparing to come home from Marianjoy, they planned to have Sharon's mother stay with Brett during the day so Sharon could return to work. But Sharon's mom fell, hit her head and died.

Erik steps in

Erik, 20, lives with his parents in Batavia and has watched his father and mother go through these trying months. When a caregiver moved away, Erik stepped in, helping his dad during the day while Sharon taught at Westfield Elementary School in Glen Ellyn.

Erik played football and soccer, and wrestled early in his high school years, then took up disc golf and skateboarding. He works full time for a landscaping firm.

But he was no triathlete.

“I haven't run since the high school mile. I haven't biked since taking rides (as a kid) with my dad. A month ago I could barely swim a (25-meter) lap,” Erik said.

He wanted to do something to honor his dad, raise awareness about strokes and give back to the community that had helped his family, especially those who had experience with strokes.

Without telling his parents, he signed up for the triathlon. He made a GoFundMe account, “Erik's Race Against Stroke Recovery,” to collect donations for the National Stroke Association, although that was not his major focus.

“It was never for the money or the charity,” he said.

His mother wondered where he was going every night while Erik trained at XSport Fitness in St. Charles. She only recently found out what he'd been planning in a text from a friend, whose daughter had seen a post about it on Facebook.

“Lo and behold, it was something good,” Sharon said.

Brett Hultquist of Batavia at last year's ET Batavia Triathlon. courtesy of Sharon Hultquist
Erik Hultquist of Batavia will race in the ET Batavia Triathlon Sunday to honor his father's effort to recover from a stroke, which he suffered after last year's event. courtesy of Erik Hultquist
  Erik Hultquist works out Thursday at XSport Fitness in St. Charles in preparation for Sunday's triathlon in Batavia. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
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