Paralyzed Cal rugby player Robert Paylor keeps promise, walks across stage for college diploma
Jeff Faraudo, UPDATED: August 30, 2021, Mercury-News
BERKELEY: For Robert Paylor, paralyzed from the neck down while playing for the Cal rugby team in 2017, the moment had finally arrived. In front of more than 1,400 of his 2020 classmates and perhaps 5,000 more at the Greek Theater for in-person graduation ceremonies Sunday, Paylor stood up from his wheelchair, gripped his walker and did what he had promised himself he would someday do. Once told he might never move again, let alone walk, Paylor stepped toward Chancellor Carol T. Christ and her assistant, reached out and accepted his diploma. The crowd rose and delivered a joyous roar. “Finally being able to be here and see my classmates, see my friends, have my family witness this moment that’s taken 1,576 days to get to, it’s the realization of a dream,” Paylor said later.
Paylor, 24, stood up from his wheelchair for the first time last September. He now can move himself 300 yards with his walker. “While this was only 5 to 10 yards,” he said, “it’s some of the most important 5 to 10 yards I’ll ever walk in my life.”
Paylor, who came to Cal after graduating from Jesuit High School in Sacramento, completed work toward his degree from the Haas School of Business a year ago, but graduation ceremonies in 2020 were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He served as the keynote speaker for a virtual graduation held for Cal athletes in May of last year...
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