Former BU player Roy gives inspirational

speech at Rotary meeting

By Jonathan Weiner

SWAMPSCOTT -- Anyone seeking instant inspiration only needed to be at Swampscott High School Saturday night to hear former Tabor Academy and Boston University hockey player Travis Roy speak.

Roy, who played just 11 seconds of hockey at BU before suffering an injury that left him a quadriplegic, spoke at a meeting of the Swampscott Rotary Club in conjunction with Interact, a Rotary-sponsored service club for youth between the ages of 14-18.

Roy's father grew up on Bristol Avenue in Swampscott, and both his grandparents taught at Swampscott High.

"He exemplifies the main principles of the Rotary Club: integrity, never-say-die, honesty and fairness," said Bill DiMento, who was instrumental in getting Roy as the speaker at Saturday night's spaghetti supper.

Roy spoke initially about his love for ice hockey.

"I grew up in Augusta, Maine, and my dad managed the local ice rink," he said. "I spent quite a bit of time there, and I played hockey in junior high. I would write down the goals that I wanted to set for each year as well as long range, and at the top of the list I would put playing Division 1 hockey, playing in the NHL, and getting a spot on the Olympic team. I wanted to see how good I could do at the sport."

Like any high school student, he had been faced with peer pressure.

"When I was in eighth grade, some of my friends and I made a pact to stay away from drugs and drinking, but a few of them jumped into drugs when we went into high school for our freshman year," he said. "When Friday and Saturday nights came, I went to the rink, dumped buckets of pucks on the ice, and just fired away for a few hours. My dad owned the rink, so I knew where he had left the keys."

Roy's hockey talents improved when he transferred to Tabor to repeat his junior year of high school. "I had heard how good the hockey players in Massachusetts were, so I pushed myself in both academics and athletics, as I wanted to be as good as they were. Shawn Walsh, who was the head coach at Maine, offered me my first scholarship, and I received several scholarships, including one from Harvard."

He narrowed his list of choices to four colleges: UMaine, the University of Vermont, the University of New Hampshire, and Boston University.

"To me, Maine and Vermont were the same thing, and I wanted to put myself in a new environment such as the big city, so I went with BU," he said. "I weighed 155 pounds in my senior year of high school, but I knew that if I wanted to compete in Division 1 hockey, I would have to hit the weights. Eventually, I improved to 175 pounds."

Roy mentioned how his best days of his life were his early days in college in 1995.

"I had set a few goals a week before the season started," he said. "I wanted to play in the first game of the season, and because Boston University had won the NCAA championship the season before, I wanted to be on the ice when the banner was raised. I also wanted to play in every game that year. Jack Parker, my coach, told me that I'd definitely play in the first two games, but I still had that goal of playing in every one of them."

The day of his accident is one that he remembers quite clearly. "I remember getting through my classes, and getting to the rink early. When the flag and the banner were raised, I was just so proud to be out there on the ice, and I was holding back the tears. I was on the third line as a wing, with Chris Drury (now of the Calgary Flames) as my center and Mike Silvio as the other winger. The puck was dumped in the offensive zone, and I leaned my shoulder to check the player on the other team. He moved out of the way, and I lost my balance. I fell headfirst into the dashboards. I did feel a little pain in my neck, and it took a few seconds for me to realize that I might be paralyzed. One of the trainers asked if I could feel anything, and I saw one of my gloves coming at me. I wasn't moving it, and that's when I knew. My father came out on the ice, and I said to him that I had made it (playing Division 1 hockey). Eleven seconds had passed, and that dream that I had written down became reality."

Roy had broken his fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae and was confined in the hospital rehabbing for the next six months.

"The toughest part for me was trying to figure out who I was," he explained. "I knew that I was Travis Roy, but I was no longer a hockey player. I was now in a wheelchair, and I couldn't feed, bathe, or dress myself."

Less than two months after his accident, a doctor found a small trace of movement in his right bicep. "It took a year and a half to get it as strong as it is now. I have to use the joystick to move things, but I can move my right arm."

Less than a year later, he went back to BU as a student. "I put my effort into my academics, and I went into the dorm with my medical supplies. I realized that I was the same person that I was before. That first year I really didn't make eye contact with others, but I made the effort to say 'hi'. People treated me more humanely when they said hi to me."

Roy eventually graduated from BU with a double major of communications and public relations. "I'm really grateful to BU, and what they did for me. I have my bachelor's degree, and I received a great education there."

He stressed a few points as to what he learned as a result of his injury, and what keeps him going. "The same values that helped me succeed have helped me do well. There's love, for example. I tell my parents and friends that I love them, and there are all kinds of different types of love. The lesson is that it's quite a powerful thing. There was the peer pressure that I faced going from eighth to ninth grade. You have to know yourself, and know right from wrong. You need to have the confidence to stand up in what you believe in. Setting goals has always been important to me.

"My goal now is to financially support myself, and to live on my own," he said. "You never know where your goals will take you. Pride is another strong element. Be proud of your family, yourself, and your views. Everyone should start out with the same amount of respect, as it's theirs to lose. Never take anything for granted. I've always cherished the great experiences that I've had, and I have a great family that's always supported me. You also have to balance the good with the bad. I realize that I have more inner strength, and while I do have some down times, I do things that make me happy. I love my family, and I love seeing my cousins."

His most important goal now is "to remain independent as much as I can. I'm fortunate to have insurance. It covers the 24-hour care, with three shifts of aides and nurses, and it costs over $300,000 a year. However, living on my own is a big goal of mine, and I want to be a productive member of society."

Roy started his own foundation a few years ago. "The Travis Roy Foundation has just surpassed the million dollar level. The financial and emotional support that my family and I received was so strong, and we wanted to give something back," he said. "Half the money raised goes to spinal cord research, while the other half goes to individuals across the country that need wheelchairs or voice activated computers or special vans to help them out."

-January 13, 2003 -