ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Travis Roy speaks to the senior class at St. Mary’s High School in Lynn on Thursday.
BY GAYLA CAWLEY
LYNN — A paralyzed former hockey player told St. Mary’s High School seniors that they could get through any of life’s challenges.
“I knew my hockey career was over,” said Travis Roy. “I said to my dad, ‘I made it.’ ”
The 41-year-old Maine native said he was playing in his first game as a freshman for the Boston University hockey team in 1995, when he sustained a life-changing injury seconds after getting onto the ice.
When he lowered his head to check a North Dakota player, he missed and went head-first into the boards.
Instantly, Roy became a quadriplegic at 20, putting an end to his other goals of making it to the National Hockey League and playing for the U.S. Olympic team.
As he laid on the ice, Roy couldn’t feel his neck and knew he was in trouble.
Roy, a Boston resident, went back to BU one year after his injury, and graduated with a degree in communications. He has since co-authored an autobiography, “Eleven Seconds: A Story of Tragedy, Courage & Triumph,” and works as a motivational speaker. He has spoken to the St. Mary’s senior class 10 times.
Megan Geaney, 18, said she knew Roy’s story, but never heard the details. She’ll remember him speaking about cherishing the little things in life.
“You never know just when they’re going to be gone, like what happened to him,” she said.
Roy told seniors that he has always focused on setting goals for himself. Dyslexia presented a challenge for him getting into college. But he focused on maintaining a “B” average and breaking 1000 on his SATs, adding that he had to take the tests five times. He also wanted to play for a division one hockey team, which he achieved at BU.
Roy said to achieve your goals, students must have a desire to see how good they could be at whatever they choose. They must also have pride and a belief in themselves to achieve their dreams.
Rebecca Kirby, 17, said she never really thought about setting goals, but was inspired to write hers down.
After his injury, Roy said his goals had to change, adding that the challenge had chosen him. At times, as he was in a hospital bed for months, there were points that he didn’t think he could go on.
“We all have this inner spirit and it’s capable of doing things we could never imagine,” he said.
Roy said he has three important values that have motivated him: respect for others, avoiding peer pressure and love. He feels fortunate for family and friends who have supported him. He is also grateful for more than $9 million donated to the Travis Roy Foundation, which goes towards spinal cord research and assistance for spinal cord injury sufferers.
But he still thinks about what might have been.
“I’ll never accept this injury,” he said. “This is not OK. With that said, I will make the best of it.”
Gayla Cawley can be reached at gcawley@itemlive.com. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley.