By DAVID LEISERING, MercyHurst Athletic Communications
Published: Friday, April 12, 2013
View the original article here.
EDINBORO, Pa. – During the weekend of the NCAA Division I Men’s Frozen Four, the Mercyhurst University men’s hockey team had the chance of a lifetime of a different kind on Thursday evening in Edinboro. The Lakers, as a team, made the short trip to Edinboro University to take in a motivational speech by Travis Roy, whose life was changed forever in the span of eleven seconds during the fall of 1995.
According to Roy’s website, www.travisroy.com, Roy first put on ice skates when he was just 20 months old. As years passed, his love for the game of hockey quickly became a passion. In the fall of 1995, Roy accomplished one of his dream goals by earning a hockey scholarship to Boston University. At the age of 20, he entered into his first collegiate hockey game. Eleven seconds into his first shift, his life changed forever as he crashed into the boards and cracked his fourth and fifth cervical vertebra, paralyzing him from the neck down.
Despite this ill twist of fate, Roy has continued to persevere and defy the odds. With an intense rehabilitation regime, he has regained some movement in his right arm. While coming to grips with his life as a quadriplegic, he returned to Boston University less than a year after his accident. Four years later, he graduated with a degree in public relations from Boston University’s prestigious College of Communication.
In the storied history of BU Terriers hockey, Roy’s #24 is the only jersey to have been retired.
The talk surely inspired and touched the lives of all who attended, but it definitely hit home with the Mercyhurst men’s hockey team. “Today, we had the privilege of meeting Travis Roy, a man who once shared similar goals and dreams that we have now,” said sophomore forward Daniel Bahntge on the team’s Facebook page. “Unfortunately, he had those goals and dreams taken away eleven seconds into his first collegiate hockey shift; falling head first into the boards and becoming a quadriplegic. His journey is truly inspirational and a real motivation for others. Today, I thank Travis for helping me put my life into better perspective.”
In 1997, Roy wrote his autobiography with Sports Illustrated’s E.M. Swift entitled Eleven Seconds, which chronicles his accident, rehabilitation, and perseverance through personal tragedy. Eleven Seconds was updated in 2005 with an ‘Afterword’ chapter and is currently in its sixth printing.
An articulate advocate for individuals living with spinal cord injuries, Roy is a frequent speaker on the hope research carries and the need for increased funding. He has testified before a United States Senate Committee hearing for The National Institute of Health in Washington, D.C., addressed the Massachusetts state legislature, and provided testimony to the Maine state legislature.
In 1997, he founded the Travis Roy Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit that focuses on finding a cure for spinal cord injuries and provides grants to spinal cord injury survivors in financial need to help them purchase the costly adaptive equipment necessary to live more active and independent lives.
To learn more about Travis Roy and and the Travis Roy Foundation, please visit www.travisroy.com or www.travisroyfoundation.org.
