Travis Roy, Former BU Player and Spinal Research Advocate, Passes Away at 45

Travis Roy, who was paralyzed 11 seconds into his first college game, and then spent a lifetime advocating for spinal cord research, passed away today at age 45 due to complications from his injury.

Roy was a freshman at Boston University, and was in the lineup for the team’s first game of the season against North Dakota on Oct. 20, 1995, a game before which it raised its 1995 national championship banner. Eleven seconds into his first shift, he went to forecheck a North Dakota defender and went awkwardly into the boards. The impact shattered his fourth and fifth vertebrae and he was instantly paralyzed. More…