Leading a purposeful life, chosen by challenges

http://goo.gl/KCR18B

If you are of a certain age, you know who Travis Roy is. He’s that hockey player, the kid from Maine who was paralyzed 11 seconds into his first shift, in his first game, for Boston University.

"...The quality of my life is very high. Every day I roll out onto this deck, into the sunlight, I think how fortunate I am.”

He threw himself into the foundation that bears his name and it has handed out $3.5 million worth of equipment — wheelchairs, lifts — to more than 1,000 people with spinal cord injuries. It has given more than $2.5 million to research. It’s gotten bigger with time.

Almost every day, he reads letters from people pleading for help.

“It’s never just the wheelchair,” he said. “It’s a little piece of independence, a little piece of dignity.”

There was a logger in New Hampshire, Wayne Snow. He was paralyzed in a logging accident. Travis read his letter and bought him a wheelchair with tank tracks. Wayne Snow is back at work, logging in his wheelchair.