BEVERLY, Mass. – What started out as a self-motivated challenge to jump in the ocean turned into something bigger for field hockey and women's ice hockey freshman Jenna Seibold (Reading, Mass.).

"At the beginning of the semester, I challenged myself to jump into the ocean every day until November 16," Seibold said. "This soon became my favorite part of the day. It not only helped me feel better after training every day, but it gave me an opportunity to clear my head and mentally prepare for the day ahead."

As more people began to hear about how Seibold challenged herself, more people began to doubt her. This motivated Seibold even more, and she was challenged by her personal trainer to continue jumping into the ocean until December 20.

With this challenge from her personal trainer also came friends and workout partners who wanted to do the plunge with Seibold. One friend, and forward for the Boston Pride, Sammy Davis, brought up the idea to use their swimming as a way to raise money for the Travis Roy Foundation, which is a foundation named after the late Travis Roy, a former Boston University hockey player who was paralyzed during his first shift on the ice, dedicated to enhancing the lives of individuals with spinal cord injuries and their families.

"Like Travis, Sammy played hockey at both Tabor and Boston University and we wanted to show our support for someone who made such a positive impact on the hockey community," Seibold said. "Since Travis wore number 24, our goal was to raise $2,400 by swimming in the ocean for 24 days starting on December 1. We surpassed that goal in less than one week."

Although this challenge only lasts until December 24 Seibold and Davis are going to plunge for as long as they can in support of the Travis Roy Foundation.

As of December 10, the two have raised $4,685 for the foundation with a goal of raising $5,000.

To learn more about their plunge and to donate click here.

ABOUT THE TRAVIS ROY FOUNDATION 

The Travis Roy Foundation is dedicated to helping spinal cord injury survivors live more independent and hopeful lives through adaptive equipment grants and funding scientific research focused on solving paralysis-related challenges.

Travis Roy was a promising Freshman hockey player at Boston University when he was paralyzed during his first shift in an NCAA game.  The outpouring of support from New Englanders and the hockey community nationwide was amazing!

The Travis Roy Foundation was established in 1996 to help other spinal cord injury survivors and to fund research. Inspired by Travis' story, the lifeblood of the Travis Roy Foundation has always been the generosity of individuals, corporations, and foundations across North America. This generosity has made an immediate impact on the lives of many individuals.

Depending on the severity of the injury and the age of the survivor, the lifetime cost of paralysis can range from $1 to $5 million, much of it uncovered by insurance. Half of the money raised by the Travis Roy Foundation goes toward Quality of Life grants to purchase adaptive equipment such as wheelchairs, mattresses, and home and vehicle modifications that help paraplegics and quadriplegics live more independently.

For someone with a spinal cord injury, having the right equipment can mean the difference between feeling helplessly insufficient as a person and a professional and being independent and capable enough to work and help raise a family. And we are not just helping the recipient. Our grants also relieve some of the physical and emotional strain on family and friends. Over the life of the Foundation, they have helped more than 2,100 quadriplegics and paraplegics.