When he was 15, Sam Becker ’25 was faced with a brutal choice: keep the metal prosthesis in his weakened right leg and endure more infections, or have his leg amputated below the knee.

His parents did plenty of research and talked to numerous doctors. “But in the end, it was Sam’s decision,” his mother, Karen Becker says. “The toughest decision of his life.”

Becker had been diagnosed five years earlier with osteosarcoma, a bone cancer prevalent among children and teens. The tumor and bone in his leg were removed, and doctors inserted a metal prosthesis. Becker learned to walk again and endured months of chemotherapy.

But bacterial infections twice forced doctors to replace the prosthesis, and each time Becker followed the same routine: wheelchair, crutches, cane, walking. The process took months, and he was in constant discomfort, with little mobility. Doctors believed it was a chronic condition that could reappear at any time.

It was sled hockey that ultimately convinced Becker to choose amputation.

Becker had begun playing the sport two years earlier. In sled hockey, players with mobility limitations sit in specially designed sleds atop two skate blades. Each player uses two sticks instead of the traditional one.

“I saw that amputees were more active than I was,” he says. “They were playing a sport they loved and having fun. Having my leg amputated below the knee was the hardest decision of my life, but I had found something that would keep me active. Sled hockey gave me back my competitive spirit.”

Five years later, Becker is an optics major, a player on the Buffalo Sabres sled hockey team, and a member of the US Men’s Development sled hockey squad, with his eyes set on the 2026 Paralympic Games in Italy. He’s pursuing two career paths—academics and athletics. And he’s more active, and happier, than ever.

COMPETITIVE SPIRIT: Since enrolling at Rochester, Becker has joined the Buffalo Sabres sled hockey team, an opportunity to continue competing at a high level in a sport that has become a big part of his life. “I was always an athlete and was eager to stay active,” he says. “Sled hockey gave me that.”

A Cancer Diagnosis at 10

Becker grew up in Olney, Maryland, the middle child to Aaron and Karen Becker. He loved playing sports growing, especially soccer.

In 2012, at age 10, he began experiencing pain in his right leg. “I didn’t give it much thought,” he says. “Then, one day at recess, I jumped for a soccer ball and landed on my leg—and it completely collapsed.”

Doctors suspected he had a torn anterior cruciate ligament and sent him for an MRI. A tumor was discovered in his right femur, and Becker was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. His first question after being diagnosed was, “Can I still play soccer?”

Becker began an eight-month course of chemotherapy treatments. Halfway through, limb-sparing surgery was performed to remove the tumor and bone from Becker’s leg and replace it with a metal prosthetic femur—one that would need to be extended numerous times as he grew taller so his legs would match. He also had multiple biopsies and work performed on his left leg to make sure both legs were balanced.

“Since his initial diagnosis, Sam has endured more than 20 surgeries on his leg,” Karen Becker says.

The good news was that the cancer disappeared after his chemo treatments stopped—and has not returned. “I’ve been very fortunate,” he says, “because osteosarcoma is known for returning even worse.”

The bad news was that Becker developed a bacterial infection in his leg a year after the surgery, and then a few years after that. Each episode requires a two-month recovery.

After much thought, Becker agreed to another surgery that involved the removal of the bottom of his femur, knee, and upper tibia. His lower leg was rotated 180 degrees and attached to the femur, and a prosthesis serves as his lower leg. “So my ankle is basically my knee,” Becker says. “It’s a medical marvel.”

Catching sled hockey fever

Before his illness, hockey was something Becker avidly watched but never played. “My family is big fans of the Washington Capitals (of the National Hockey League),” says Becker, the middle of three children. “We went to a lot of games.”

Soon after Becker’s cancer diagnosis, he had a chance to see—and meet—his favorite hockey team when the Make a Wish foundation gave Becker and his family tickets to a Capitals game. Becker was able to chat with players, attend practice, visit the locker room, and even speak on the television broadcast.

At roughly the same time, his mother went online to search for sports that Becker could play and discovered sled hockey. Invented in the 1960s by two Swedish men who, despite physical disabilities, wanted to continue playing hockey, it’s a full-contact, fast-paced sport. Many of the rules mirror standup hockey: same size rink, same penalties, and five-on-five with a goalie for each team.

Becker has grown to love it.

“I was always an athlete and was eager to stay active,” he says. “Sled hockey gave me that.”

He played for the DC Sled Sharks youth team, then moved on to the Philadelphia Hammerheads junior team. At Rochester, he has joined the Buffalo Sabres of the Ontario Sled Hockey League.

A year before the surgery to remove parts of his leg, Becker was invited to the USA sled hockey development camp. “You play hockey all week, which is awesome, and you’re coached by a member of the US Paralympic team,” he says. “At the end of camp, there are tryouts for the development team.”

As he recovered from surgery, he made it his mission to master the sport. The game was a huge factor when deciding which college to attend.

LUCKY STICKS?: Leading up to his selection to the US development team last fall, Becker worked with engineer Jim Alkins at the Fabrication Lab in Rettner Hall to create new sticks, an important part of the equipment used in sled hockey. Becker continues physical therapy (below) as part of his regular routine. The optics major decided to have part of his right leg amputated to avoid repeated infections after surgery to remove cancer in his leg.

Elite sports, elite academics

“I wanted a school close enough to a high-level sled hockey team,” he says. Buffalo, Chicago, Nashville, and New Hampshire made his list.

He also wanted to study physics and astronomy. That, Rochester’s proximity to Buffalo, and the beauty of the campus, drew him in. “I came to the River Campus for a tour and immediately thought ‘wow, this is a really nice campus,’ ” he says. “I really wanted to come here.”

After spending some time at Rochester, Becker pivoted slightly, deciding to major in optics. Home to the first higher education institution in the United States to develop an academic program in the field, Rochester’s nearly 100-year-old Institute of Optics awards nearly half of all optics degrees in the nation. “Optics is huge here, and I heard a lot about it from my friends and the department,” Becker says. “I decided to give it a try, and I am really enjoying it.”

Given the importance of equipment in sled hockey, Becker asked Jim Alkins, a senior laboratory engineer and manager of the University’s Fabrication Studio in Rettner Hall, to help him create new hockey sticks.

“Your sleds are custom made for your body because some people are amputees, and others are double amputees,” Becker says. “The other main component is your sticks. Everyone has a different length and style. And for the longest time, I was using sticks that were too short.”

The new sticks were the lucky charm. Last November, Becker was added to the US development team, a group of players training for a spot on the national Paralympic squad.

Becker goes to the gym five days a week for one-hour workouts and skates three times a week. “The only reason I don’t train on Sunday is because I go climbing with a friend, and that’s a workout in itself,” he says.

Becker says he feels “incredibly fortunate” to have support from Dustin Newman, the undergraduate coordinator for optics, and Nick Valentino, assistant director of undergraduate programs at the Hajim School of Engineering amp; Applied Sciences.

“Professors are also very accommodating when I have exam conflicts,” he says.

US development teammate Daniel Malloy has been playing sled hockey with Becker since their days with the DC Sled Sharks. He says Becker’s work ethic is inspiring.

“Sam got comfortable with sled hockey very quickly,” Malloy says. “He’s a great hockey player, and an even better person. He’s one of the hardest workers I know, and it’s that determination to be better that sets him apart from everyone.”

The US didn’t form a sled hockey team until 1990 but has dominated international competition, winning gold medals at the past four Winter Paralympics—which follow the traditional Olympic Games in the same host city. Next up are the 2026 Paralympic Games in Italy.

“My dream is to be there,” Becker says.