Robby’s Untold Story

Imagine attending high school with not one, but two broken wrists. Now imagine trying to shower, brush your teeth, or write papers. This inconvenient scenario was reality for former high school student Robby Davis.

Robby has always loved sports– he knows professional players and stats and he also plays sports himself. Through athleticism, Robby has grown a better understanding of who he is and how he identifies as a male. Yet, when Robby broke both of his wrists in high school, he soon realized that he couldn’t do the things he once did. Sure, this disability was only temporary; however, the crippling reality set this high schooler back to an elementary understanding of ableism and masculinity.

Robby soon realized that his temporary five week disability was frustrating, but also life changing. He felt as though he had been robbed of some of his masculinity. People often held the door open for him and he received a lot of assistance doing various other everyday tasks. Prior to his broken wrists, Robby has always taken advantage of the ease he had in his life. School came easy and he was also good a sports. Now, everything in Robby’s life came as a struggle. His casts were even molded so that he could hold a pencil to write, but this still proved difficult.

Masculinity is defined so boldly in today’s society. Men are tough and men are expected to be independent. Robby found himself feeling more helpless and dependent with two broken wrists. For the first time in his teen life, he had to depend on other people to physically get him through the day. Robby had to learn to accept help that he hadn’t considered accepting before.; he hadn’t needed the help before.

A strong willed Christian, Robby has always valued community to a certain extent. Yet, after reevaluating what it meant to be a man, Robby learned to appreciate his Christian beliefs even more than before. He began to care less about what it meant to be a masculine male and more of what it meant to be a team player and part of a community. The divide between people isn’t that large and Robby acknowledges that one of his favorite parts of college is living in the Onyx house.

At one point during his rehab, Robby found himself sitting in the waiting room at Slocum in Eugene. He read an article on one of his favorite athletes with a quote that read:

From everyone who’s given much, much will be demanded.

This quote soon became Robby’s personal mantra. Because of the ease he experienced before, Robby found himself trying harder. He wanted to be better than he had been before and his broken wrists helped him realize this.

Broken wrists or not, Robby Davis is a team player. Over the five weeks he spent with a broken wrist, Robby not only learned to overcome his struggles, he also learned what being a man is really about: community.