Today is the 16th anniversary of Travis Roy's tragic accident which left him paralyzed. It happened on a night that everything was going so right. BU had just raised the 1995 National Championship banner to the rafters of old Walter Brown Arena. Then, in an 11 second span of time, the whole mood in the rink changed.
Freshman, Travis Roy was playing in his first colligate hockey game for the Terriers against the University of North Dakota. BU was dominating the Sioux, which allowed Roy, and the rest of the fourth line, to take their first shift of the game. For Roy, it was his first in the NCAA. Off the faceoff, the puck rattled around the side boards into the corner where Roy and a UND player both chased after it. Roy lost an edge trying to deliver a body check and fell head first into the dasher along the boards. 11 seconds into his college hockey career, Roy was laying face down on the ice, motionless. He was paralyzed from the neck down.
Roy's number 24 has since been retired, and hangs in the same rafters as other famous BU hockey banners. Travis continues to be a huge BU hockey fan and travels to country as a great motivational speeker. A few years ago he actually cam to my school, Medfield High.
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