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ORANGE -- The boy with the dream is
now the man with the hope. Hope that one day science might find a cure. Hope
that one day he will stand and walk away from the wheelchair in which he
sits. Hope. Travis Roy is full of hope. And dreams. It was always about
making those dreams come true.
The dreams are different now. Dreams of skating again. Of
playing hockey again. God, how he would love to see those dreams come true.
The science is out there, Travis Roy knows it is. A cure is out there. The
only question is, will it be found in time to allow Travis Roy to realize
these new dreams?
No one knows. But there will always be hope. That part of
it will never wane. Travis Roy has been hoping and dreaming about science
and cures for the last eight years, ever since that fateful night when, as a
freshman at Boston University, he skated onto the ice to realize his biggest
dream. Just 11 seconds later, he saw that dream vanish in a terrible
accident.
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Photo by Jeff Bustraan |
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Travis Roy, who suffered a spinal cord injury in
his first shift as a Boston University hockey player in 1995,
sustains hope that research will help him in his fight against
paralysis. |
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For the last eight years, Michael and John Ferguson of
the Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport, along with Trumbull's Chris and Ted
Drury, have been hosting a charity golf tournament at the Race Brook Country
Club to benefit the Travis Roy Foundation. The foundation is an organization
designed to give financial aid to victims and families of spinal cord
accidents and to ensure that scientific research continues toward one day
finding a cure for spinal cord injuries.
"It's been amazing. This has always been a first-class
tournament, and every year, it's gotten better," said Roy, who made the trip
down from his summer home in Vermont to be a part of Monday's activities at
Race Brook. "It's so impressive, the Fergusons, Chris and Ted Drury, they
are such wonderful people.
"Eight years later I never would have thought that this
would continue. The money raised ... this year it's $50,000, that's a lot of
money, and I feel good about where the money's going."
That first year, in 1996, Michael Ferguson was sitting
with Chris and Ted one day, and he brought up the subject of Travis, leading
to the birth of the golf tournament. The first event raised $5,000. With
this year's donation, the Fergusons and the Drurys will have raised over
$200,000 for Roy's Foundation. And that's just the start, according to
Michael Ferguson.
"I remember that first tournament. Ted got up to speak
and he said how great the event was, but let's see if 10 years from now if
we have the same interest," Ferguson said. "Sure enough, the interest is
even more popular today."
It had always been Travis Roy's dream to play Division I
hockey. He wasn't the biggest kid, maybe 5-foot-8, 165 pounds, and the size
factor turned a lot of coaches away. But the ones who did look saw a player
with an incredible knowledge for the sport, an undying work ethic and an
iron will to succeed. He was a rink rat, skating for the first time when he
was just 20 months old at the North Yarmouth (Maine) Academy Rink that his
father, Lee, operated.
Lee was also his coach and would alternate Travis from
forward one season to defense the next so that he would understand all
facets of the game. Roy started his high school career at Class B Yarmouth
High, but after a season, he transferred to North Yarmouth, which played
Class A. After two seasons there, Roy transferred to Tabor, a prep school in
Marion, Mass. Each step brought him closer to his goal of becoming a
Division I hockey player.
Before accepting a scholarship to Boston University, Roy
took a recruiting visit. The player who chaperoned him around that weekend
was Chris Drury.
"He was focused on everything, not just hockey," Drury
said. "No matter what he did, you knew he was destined for success."
On Oct. 20, 1995, Boston University was playing North
Dakota. Just barely two minutes into the game and just 11 seconds into his
first collegiate shift, Roy went to place a body check on North Dakota's
Mitch Vig. He bounced off the check and crashed, head first, into the
boards.
"I just heard an awkward bang, one I hadn't heard
before," said Drury, who was skating with Roy on BU's second line that
night. "You know sounds from players getting hit, but this one was
different. Obviously, it's something I'll never forget."
Lee raced to his son's side down on the ice. Growing up,
Lee always had had this thing with Travis. If Travis got hit with the puck
or fell down, he would say with a smile, "Get up, you're not hurt," and
Travis would get up and keep playing. This time, however, Travis couldn't
get up. His fourth cervical vertebra had been shattered.
"Dad, I'm in deep (blank). I can't feel my arms or legs,"
Roy relates in his book, "Eleven Seconds." And as Lee looked down on his
son, Travis added, "But Dad ... I made it."
"I said to him, 'You're right son. You did,' " Lee said
in a November 1995 Sports Illustrated article. "It didn't last long. Eleven
seconds. But he made it."
Eight years later, Lee Roy still gets emotional when he
remembers that night.
"Before the accident, he was still the same Travis Roy
you'll see today. The only difference is that now, his body doesn't work the
way it used to," Lee said. "His tolerance level is probably the biggest
change, what he has to put up with every day. I don't know how he does it.
That's the biggest struggle."
The boy with the dream is now the man with the hope.
Travis Roy is full of hope. He realized one dream. Now, he'd love to make
another come true.
Connecticut Post
July 3, 2003 |