Travis Roy Founder | Travis Roy Foundation Growing up in Yarmouth, Maine, Travis Roy — then, a promising prospect from prep power North Yarmouth Academy — set playing college hockey as a lifelong dream. On Oct. 20, 1995, that dream became reality, and his life also changed forever. After crashing into the corner boards just...
Travis Roy
Founder | Travis Roy Foundation
Growing up in Yarmouth, Maine, Travis Roy — then, a promising prospect from prep power North Yarmouth Academy — set playing college hockey as a lifelong dream.
On Oct. 20, 1995, that dream became reality, and his life also changed forever. After crashing into the corner boards just 11 seconds into his first collegiate shift at Walter Brown Arena, Roy cracked his fourth and fifth cervical vertebra, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down.
Rehab and recovery followed, and he has since gained some movement back in his right arm. Roy’s courage and positive energy quickly made him one of the most inspiring figures on the Boston sports scene, backed by a large group of supporters including former BU coach Jack Parker (Somerville, Mass.) and a foundation that bears his name.
Roy, who returned to BU less than one year after his accident to earn his degree in four years, authored a memoir titled "Eleven Seconds" along with Sports Illustrated’s E.M. Swift, detailing his journey. He is also a frequent motivational speaker around New England.
Roy’s legacy still lives on at BU, as his No. 24 hangs next to Parker’s No. 6 as one of two the Terriers have retired in the Agganis Arena rafters.
So, too, does his encouraging spirit.
"Once I decided I did want to live, I realized I could live according to the same values that made me successful before my accident," Roy said at a Travis Roy Foundation gala in 2015. "I feel so loved. I realize that my work is my new dream, and that’s what fuels me."
— JOSHUA KUMMINS
Denna Laing
Princeton/Boston Pride
Like Roy, the Marblehead, Mass., native has triumphed after tragedy. After suffering a severe, paralyzing spinal cord injury during the Women’s Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium in 2016, Laing has inspired in her comeback efforts, most recently teaming up with former NHL star Bobby Carpenter to complete this past April’s Boston Marathon.
Mike Eruzione
Forward | 1980 U.S. Olympic Team
The captain of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" squad hails from Winthrop, Mass., and attended Boston University, where he currently works in the athletic department as director of special outreach. He is also a sought-after motivational speaker and remains involved in charity, his hometown and through U.S. Olympic Committee fundraising.
