This feature originally appeared in the 2021 Spring edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.




Look Robert Paylor in the eyes when he says it. Listen to the inflection in his voice. Talk to those around him about his sincerity.
 
"If I could go back and change what happened to me on May 6, 2017, when I broke my neck, I wouldn't."
 
Let it sink in. Ask him again.
 
"That ability to inspire people like I've been able to do, it's so powerful. It means so much more than going from Point A to Point B on my feet. It gave me a passion and gave me a purpose – a real purpose in life to take what happened to me on that day and turn it into a gift. That's a gift I can share with other people – share my story and these lessons with other people."
 
He means it. And those who really know Robert Paylor – before and after the life-altering injury he suffered on the rugby pitch in Santa Clara four years ago – aren't actually that surprised.
 
"The injury never changed who Rob was at his core," said Eric Vande Griend, Paylor's physical therapist at the Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado. "Who he was at his core helped him through this. I'm sure the injury shaped him, but the person he was even before the injury is what helped him thrive through the injury."
 
Paylor may have lost his ability to walk – for now – when he suffered a broken neck playing for the Cal rugby team during the Varsity Cup Championship in 2017, but he retained his ability to think, to feel and to inspire. He's done a lot of all three in the months and years that have followed, and the effect it has had on him is arguably greater than the injury itself.
 
"There are a lot of difficult things that I have to deal with, but those are far outweighed by those people who have supported me and the connections I've built – that love, that support, that unwavering community," Paylor said. "What has really been my new purpose in life has been inspiring other people. It's really touched me."
 
On the fateful night in 2017, Paylor was told by doctors at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center that he would never walk again, and, depending on the course of action they took, he may not even survive. He has spent almost every day since leaving others around him in awe with his physical and emotional strength, gradually progressing to standing and walking with the assistance of a walker while maintaining an almost too-good-to-be-true spirit.
 
"I was just so shocked that somebody could take something that definitely could change their life for the worse and turn it into this positive thing," said Paylor's girlfriend, Karsen Welle. "So many people thought it was so tragic and so sad, and he's like, 'I don't think so.' He always has a positive attitude. Sometimes I shake him and tell him it's OK to have a hard day."
 
As Paylor recovered from emergency spinal fusion surgery and was transferred to Craig, a world-renowned facility that specializes in spinal cord and brain injuries, his comeback from the devastating injury caught on. His gofundme.com account generated 5,600 donations, many of which came accompanied with personal stories from donors who shared the ways in which Paylor had touched them. His following on social media grew astronomically, as Paylor shared video of the different benchmarks of his recovery.
 
"Everybody sees what he posts on social media. I see the day to day," Welle said. "Even when he's having a difficult day of rehab, he just says, "If I can get through this one day and change one person's life, it's all worth it.' He's not just saying it when he's talking to someone who is going through a hard time in their life. He's saying it when he's struggling to take that last step to get to his chair or when he's pushing through at the end of a three-hour workout."
 
Paylor was faced with a decision the night of the injury – undergo surgery, which had its risks but gave him a better chance of recovery; or forgo surgery in the name of overall survival but sacrifice his chances of improving his mobility throughout his life.
 
The surgery went well, and after overcoming a myriad other serious medical issues that were associated with the injury, he made the move to Craig.
 
"(Craig) didn't give me any guarantees that I was going to get better," Paylor said. "They just gave me a chance. They gave me that glimmer of hope. That was what was realistic."
 
What followed were 8-9 hour days of intense rehabilitation, beginning with simply trying to get his body parts to move. From his shoulders to his toes, he would attempt to will his body to move while lying in bed. Finally, on Father's Day, he wiggled two toes on his right foot for the first time.
 
"I bawled my eyes out," Paylor said. "It was this incredible moment that we had thought about and prayed about. I did my best to will it. It was a real signal of a chance, that things were starting to wake up. They were small and weak, but they were making it all the way down my body. That was promising."
 
Those first movements opened the door for an increased rehab schedule, and Paylor progressed from standing from a sitting position to walking with a platform walker. After 10.5 months at Craig, Paylor returned to Cal.
 
"Rob was just resilient and positive," Vande Griend said. "The fact that through all of this he could maintain a positive attitude – nothing shook him. There are challenges that come at you every day, from learning how to get out of bed again, to brushing your teeth, to just getting to the cafeteria to get your meal. He just kind of took everything in stride. When a challenge came at him, he never got discouraged. It was more like, 'This is hard, but I can figure it out.' That doesn't happen very often."
 
Paylor returned to classes at Cal in the fall of 2018, but it wasn't like he was ready to simply start navigating life on his own again. When he got back to Berkeley, he found his old rugby team had devised a comprehensive assistance program for him to negotiate life again as a college student. Head coach Jack Clark created a shared document with Paylor's schedule, and players signed up to escort him to and from the places he needed to be.
 
"It was a pretty powerful moment to reflect on team," Clark said. "When a class was over and he had to get to another building, there would be somebody waiting. There were a few tasks that were kind of hard for Robert – accessing a washer and dryer and stuff like that. Those were tasks we could do for him. But mostly it was just about covering for him, making sure wherever he goes he had one of his former teammates signed up for Robert duties.
 
"It was easy to do. They couldn't wait to sign up."
 
Paylor finished his studies last spring and graduated from the Haas School of Business, punctuating his Cal career by giving a breathtaking virtual speech during a special athletic department commencement ceremony. He was recently named the executive director of The Big C Society and has launched a career in motivational speaking, all while continuing to put in several hours a day with his rehabilitation.
 
"I obviously don't recommend anybody go out there and break their neck," Paylor said. "People don't have to go through what I've gone through to have that kind of perspective. I was able to gain that perspective through my own experience and I can now share it with others.
 
"I see myself walking again. I see myself standing up out of that wheelchair and never sitting back in it again. The overarching goal is not needing my wheelchair ever again."
 
 To learn more about Robert Paylor's journey, visit www.robertpaylor.com.