Travis Roy, former Boston University Hockey player and passionate advocate for spinal cord injuries and research, passes away at 45.

 "Do the best with what you have and don't dwell on your misfortune." 

--Travis Roy (1975-2020)

Today, while working from home, I glanced down at my phone and noticed a Twitter notification about Travis Roy. When I opened the notification on my phone, it was a tweet from ESPN’s John Buccigross, paying tribute to Travis. I ended up doing a quick internet search on Travis—only to find out that he passed away today (October 29) at the age of 45.

First and foremost, my condolences go out to Travis's family and friends upon hearing of their loss. 

For those who don’t know who Travis Roy is, he was a freshman on the Boston University men’s hockey team who suffered a serious spinal injury 11 seconds into his first (and only) collegiate shift on October 20, 1995 in a game against the University of North Dakota. He ended up with broken vertebra and being a quadriplegic (he later regained feeling in one of his arms and part of his chest).  I remember hearing about what happened to Roy on ESPN’s SportsCenter shortly after it happened. What shook me about what happened is that he was only 20 years old at the time (I was only 18 at the time and a freshman at the University of Minnesota myself). While I didn’t play collegiate hockey, I interned with the Athletics Department and worked with both men’s and women’s hockey programs while in college. One thing I remember from this is the topics of cross-checking and checking from behind in hockey being discussed frequently 

(courtesy of bostonglobe.com)

Since his injury, Roy worked tirelessly to help bring awareness to spinal cord injuries and advocate for people with spinal cord injuries both from in and outside the world of sports. In 1997, he started the Travis Roy foundation—which raised money for research and to provide grants and equipment for those with spinal cord injuries. He graduated from Boston University in 2000 and was also a motivational speaker. One of his speeches is The Art of Practicing Gratitude and Life's Simplest Pleasures | Travis Roy | TEDxBU.  

I followed Travis Roy through out the years through the internet. His injury was brought up when a kid by the name of Jack Jablonski was suffered a similar injury playing in a high school hockey game for Benilde-St. Margaret’s in December of 2011. (Jack, like Travis, also started a foundation to assist in raising money for research to treat spinal cord injuries). Jablonski posted this tweet upon hearing of Roy's passing:

(courtesy of https://twitter.com/Jabs_13)

While doing the research for this post, it didn't occur to me that it's been 25 years since game and the injury that changed Roy's life forever. Roy made the following statement in an interview with the Associated Press not long after his 40th birthday:

"I like to say the first 20 years I had a life that was full of passion and the last 20 I've had a life full of purpose...The dream is to have both at the same time, but I'm fortunate. I'll take either one.'' (courtesy of espn.com)

Travis Roy managed to take something devastating and proceeded to make a positive impact on those who have also suffered spinal cord injuries. That impact will be felt for years to come as a result of the money that was raised through his foundation for spinal cord research or grants given to those spinal cord injury survivors for equipment. 

For more information on the Travis Roy Foundation or to donate, please click here. 

For Jack Jablonski's Bel13ve foundation, please click here.

Sources:

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/30219167/travis-roy-philanthropist-spinal-cord-injury-treatment-dies-45

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/19/metro/amazing-transformative-life-travis-roy/