St. Ignatius High School baseball student-athlete overcame major medical obstacles
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Robbie Boyce, a junior at St. Ignatius High School, overcame major medical obstacles to return to playing competitive sports. Boyce will be honored with the Cleveland Clinic Sports Medicine Courage Award during the 22nd Greater Cleveland Sports Awards presented by Medical Mutual and Ancora on Wednesday, March 23, 2022 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
In September 2020, Boyce was at the gym preparing for his upcoming junior baseball season when he suddenly had a seizure and collapsed. Boyce’s trainer quickly called emergency services and he was airlifted to Cleveland Clinic’s main campus. Boyce, who was 16 years old, had suffered severe bleeding in his brain caused by a very rare type of stroke called a subarachnoid hemorrhage, and underwent emergency brain surgery.
During surgery, Mark Bain, M.D., neurosurgeon at the Cerebrovascular Center at Cleveland Clinic, and his team discovered an artery had ruptured inside Boyce’s brain that sustained significant damage forcing them to perform a procedure which involved inserting tiny coils into the pathway to ultimately seal the aneurysm and block blood flow.
After surgery, Boyce spent five days in a medically induced coma, and when he initially woke up, the right side of his body was paralyzed. His road to recovery looked to be a long one, but Boyce began to show steady progress as his brain healed.
For the next 30 days, Boyce remained in the Cleveland Clinic Neurological Intensive Care Unit followed by two months in rehabilitation therapy relearning basic functions, including walking and improving his short-term memory which were affected by the stroke.
By January 2021, Boyce had returned to school. He was back on the junior varsity baseball team and even resumed playing piano just three-and-a-half months after his stroke.
“In Robbie’s situation, because he’s so young and was in such critical condition, it takes a massive team, including surgeons, nurses, critical care specialists, physical and occupational therapists and many more, coming together to care for him every step of the way,” said Dr. Bain. “Looking back on how he came to us, and seeing him walking and talking, let alone playing sports and thriving, is really amazing.”
Boyce believes his hard work, dedication and the support of family, friends and the medical team at Cleveland Clinic helped expedite his recovery. He now uses his story as a way to help others who are in similar situations remain positive and persevere.
“You’ll be able to get through it if you keep pushing as hard as you can and believing in yourself,” said Boyce. “There’s a lot of people out there rooting for you.”
Boyce is currently in his junior year at St. Ignatius High School and lives with his parents.
Cleveland Clinic Sports Medicine Courage Award is given to an athlete who displays courage beyond the boundaries of their playing field, in order to inspire those around them.
Greater Cleveland Sports Awards is the premier annual sports fundraiser supporting Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and celebrates the past year of Cleveland’s professional, collegiate and high school sport achievements.
Tickets are available for purchase at clevelandsportsawards.com.
Recipients of the Courage Award presented by Cleveland Clinic Sports Medicine include:
2021 – Robbie Boyce, St. Ignatius, Baseball
2020 – Camryn Colahan, Vermillion, Volleyball and Basketball
2019 – Skylar Scarnecchia, Champion Township, Basketball, Soccer, Track & Field and Volleyball
2018 – Sophia Pecjak, Mentor, Soccer and Basketball
2017 – Samer Babi, North Olmsted, Football
2016 – Kendra Seitz, Hudson, Competitive Swimming
2015 – Colin Teets, Westlake, Hockey
2014 – Nick Lenyo, Huron, Football
2013 – Courteney Belmonte, Westlake, Competitive Cheerleading
2012 – Molly Miller, Notre Dame Academy, Soccer
2011 – Brandee Kelly, Cleveland State University, Basketball
2010 – Olivia Warhop, Hathaway Brown School, Swimming and Soccer
2009 – Gyasi Cooper, St. Ignatius High School, Track & Field
2008 – Eric Anderson, Jr., Gilmour Academy, Basketball
To learn more about Greater Cleveland Sports Commission or to keep up-to-date on new developments and activities follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Please use #CLESportsAwards when posting about this event.
Greater Cleveland Sports Commission: Meredith Painter, mpainter@clevelandsports.org, (216) 496-3863
Cleveland Clinic: Jenna Homrock, homrocj2@ccf.org, (216) 386-9628
About Cleveland Clinic:
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation’s best hospitals in its annual “America’s Best Hospitals” survey. Among Cleveland Clinic’s 70,800 employees worldwide are more than 4,660 salaried physicians and researchers, and 18,500 registered nurses and advanced practice providers, representing 140 medical specialties and subspecialties. Cleveland Clinic is a 6,500-bed health system that includes a 173-acre main campus near downtown Cleveland, 19 hospitals, more than 220 outpatient facilities, and locations in southeast Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Toronto, Canada; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and London, England. In 2020, there were 8.7 million total outpatient visits, 273,000 hospital admissions and observations, and 217,000 surgical cases throughout Cleveland Clinic’s health system. Patients came for treatment from every state and 185 countries. Visit us at clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at twitter.com/ClevelandClinic. News and resources available at newsroom.clevelandclinic.org.
About Greater Cleveland Sports Commission:
Since 2000, Greater Cleveland Sports Commission (GCSC) is responsible for attracting over 200 sporting events which provide more than $780 million in economic activity to Northeast Ohio. GCSC serves to measurably improve the economy of Greater Cleveland and enrich the community by attracting, creating, managing and enhancing significant sporting and competitive events. For more information, visit clevelandsports.org.
