Harvard initiates Abercrombie Fund
The Harvard Varsity Club yesterday announced the establishment of The Ben Abercrombie ’21 Fund to provide support to the Abercrombie family and any future Harvard undergraduate student-athlete who incurred a severe or catastrophic injury while competing for the Crimson.
The fund, established in conjunction with Harvard athletics and the Friends of Harvard Football, kicked off at 10 a.m., and within one hour had received pledges of $63,000. Four hours later the amount was up to $77,000, according to Varsity Club officials.
Executive director Bob Glatz reported that by 4 p.m., 90 pledgers had pushed that figure to more than $100,000.
The fund’s namesake, a Harvard freshman, sustained a serious neck injury in his first collegiate game, the Crimson’s season opener Sept. 16 at Rhode Island.
The Hoover, Ala., native is suffering from paralysis and has been receiving treatment at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence since then.
“The community support from Hoover, Ala., and the community support within the Harvard community has been outstanding, and
I’m proud to announce the Ben Abercrombie ’21 Fund,” Harvard football coach Tim Murphy told colleagues at yesterday’s New England College Football Writers luncheon. “It will allow us to help the family of Ben Abercrombie . . . . This award will go on in perpetuity to help any future Harvard athlete that sustains a catastrophic injury.”
Murphy said the immediate hope is for Abercrombie to be transferred to a rehabilitation facility closer to his Alabama home.
Murphy indicated that the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, which is devoted to the medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury, is among those under consideration.
Said Murphy: “The next step is for Ben to go to a rehab facility . . . . They need to get him off the ventilator first. It will be one small blessing in his battle to get his health back.”
Abercrombie’s father Marty reported on Ben’s CaringBridge web page that he received an “uplifting visit” on Sunday night from Harvard personnel, including special teams coordinator/defensive backs coach Ryan Crawford and three freshman teammates, Doug Henz, a defensive tackle from Abercrombie’s hometown, John Jenkins, a linebacker from Madison, Ala., and linebacker Andrew Irwin of Altoona, Pa.
Wrote Marty Abercrombie: “They encouraged Ben to fight like a badger in his major battle. They gave him some bracelets the team made that reflect the nickname ‘BadgerCrombie’ that he earned in fall camp.”