Travis Roy, A Voice Of Courage In The Face Of Adversity, Dies

WALTHAM, MA — It was a speech Travis Roy delivered in thousands of auditoriums across the country over the course of more than two decades that left packed rows of students in a captivated silence.

It wasn't so much a story about how the Yarmouth, Maine native was paralyzed just 11 seconds into his college hockey career at Boston University. It was a story about how he kept persevering as a quadriplegic, and an inspiration to many, that kept the typically rowdy and restless Waltham High student body focused on each word during his 2012 talk in the school's Robinson Auditorium.

"I've come a long way and I'm proud of that," Roy told the hushed Waltham High crowd. "The support of my friends and my family has made me strong because of it.

"I enjoy sharing my story."

That motivational story in the face of immense physical challenges took a sad turn on Thursday when Roy died of complications from a medical procedure related to his paralysis. He was 45.

Roy suffered a break of the fourth and fifth vertebrae in his spinal cord when he crashed headfirst into the boards on the first shift of his first game with the Terriers on Oct. 20, 1995. In the ensuing decades, he raised money for research into paralysis and quality-of-life improvements for those paralyzed through his Travis Roy Foundation by telling his story in front of student groups like the one at Waltham High that Thursday night in 2012.

Roy suffered from pneumonia, a collapsed lung, stomach ulcers and bedsores in the weeks and months that followed the injury. He also dealt a depression that he told the students came with the realization that his life would never be the same.

"There were days when I thought I just can't take it anymore," he told the students. "Is this the way the rest of my life is going to be like? But through inner spirit, sheer will and determination, I came to find that a positive attitude will take you further than anything else."

He co-wrote the book "Eleven Seconds" in 1997 and graduated from BU with a degree in communications after four years.

He would often say of his dream of being a college hockey player: "Those 11 seconds were the best 11 seconds of my life."

According to the Travis Roy Foundation website, Roy's work raised millions of dollars to benefit victims of paralysis and for research into potential therapies and cures.

"There are times in your life when you choose your challenges and times in your life when challenges choose us," he said that night. "You want to have pride knowing that you gave it your best, gave it your all."