Boston Globe: Wiffle Ball Event a Big Hit for Travis Roy Foundation
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Per The Boston Globe:
"ESSEX, Vt. — Konnor Fleming makes a spectacular game-ending catch in the 12th Travis Roy Wiffle Ball Tournament, catapulting headfirst into the right-field bullpen at Little Fenway Park, and vanishing from sight.
"When he finally surfaces, Travis Roy breathes a sigh of relief.
“It did cross my mind that I hope he didn’t just break his neck,” says Roy, who was watching from his wheelchair.
"It has been nearly 18 years since Roy, 38, crashed headfirst into the boards at Walter Brown Arena, just 11 seconds into his first shift as a Boston University hockey player, and became a quadriplegic. Today, Roy remains paralyzed from the neck down, with just enough movement in his right arm to operate the joystick of his motorized wheelchair."
***
"Roy, who lives in Boston, heard one of the explosions from the Boston Marathon bombings from his apartment. He knows the trauma the survivors are going through. When he was in the hospital after his accident, a peer counselor with quadriplegia visited and told him everything was going to be fine.
“I said, ‘Get the [expletive] out of my room,’ ” says Roy. “I just wasn’t ready to hear it. You’ve got to deal with losses and feel the pain. But life has gotten a hell of a lot better than I thought it would.”
"To help survivors, he penned an article for WBUR.
“My advice to those who are injured is to cling to those things that still put a smile on your face, and build from there,” he wrote."
Full article after the jump...
"ESSEX, Vt. — Konnor Fleming makes a spectacular game-ending catch in the 12th Travis Roy Wiffle Ball Tournament, catapulting headfirst into the right-field bullpen at Little Fenway Park, and vanishing from sight.
"When he finally surfaces, Travis Roy breathes a sigh of relief.
“It did cross my mind that I hope he didn’t just break his neck,” says Roy, who was watching from his wheelchair.
"It has been nearly 18 years since Roy, 38, crashed headfirst into the boards at Walter Brown Arena, just 11 seconds into his first shift as a Boston University hockey player, and became a quadriplegic. Today, Roy remains paralyzed from the neck down, with just enough movement in his right arm to operate the joystick of his motorized wheelchair."
***
"Roy, who lives in Boston, heard one of the explosions from the Boston Marathon bombings from his apartment. He knows the trauma the survivors are going through. When he was in the hospital after his accident, a peer counselor with quadriplegia visited and told him everything was going to be fine.
“I said, ‘Get the [expletive] out of my room,’ ” says Roy. “I just wasn’t ready to hear it. You’ve got to deal with losses and feel the pain. But life has gotten a hell of a lot better than I thought it would.”
"To help survivors, he penned an article for WBUR.
“My advice to those who are injured is to cling to those things that still put a smile on your face, and build from there,” he wrote."
Full article after the jump...