Frosh’s fight ‘uplifting’
Harvard’s Abercrombie inspires
It is an arduous journey for Harvard football player Ben Abercrombie, who — nearly three months after a devastating neck injury in his first game as a collegian — can’t move his arms or legs and uses a ventilator to breathe.
But the Hoover, Ala., native continues to inspire those who know him.
“It’s so hard for what they’re going through,” Harvard teammate Tanner Lee said. “We try to show our support in every way we can and let them know that we’re thinking about them.”
The day after Thanksgiving, Lee, who is from Spanish Fort, Ala., stopped by the Shepherd Center, the Atlanta rehabilitation hospital where Abercrombie is staying. The senior safety had recently been named MVP of Harvard’s football team and was given a watch to go along with that distinction.
“I knew immediately that I wanted to give it to him,” Lee said. “I had it in a box and they didn’t really know what it was. We were watching a football game on TV. It was a good game, up-anddown. I can’t remember which teams, but after the third quarter, I gave (the watch) to him. I told him we were inspired by his fight. I told him he has inspired way more people than I ever could. Believe me, if I had four watches, I would give all of them to their family.”
Abercrombie’s injury occurred at Rhode Island on Sept. 16. Late in the second quarter, Abercrombie, a 5-foot-8 freshman safety, made a tackle against 6-3 receiver Marven Beauvais along the sideline near the Crimson bench. Abercrombie crumpled to the ground, and medical staff from both teams rushed to his aid. His neck was immobilized, and he was placed on a backboard and transported to Rhode Island Hospital. He underwent emergency surgery to remove pressure from the spinal cord and re-position a dislocated cervical vertebrae.
On Oct. 12, Abercrombie’s condition improved enough for his transfer to the Shepherd Center, which specializes in spinal cord injuries.
“It’s going to take time. It’s not like it’s a three-month healing window,” said Marty Abercrombie, Ben’s father. “Hopefully, with God placing his healing hand on Ben, he will regain his functionality and walk someday. Yes, his physical conditioning is improving.”
‘Good spirits’
Since moving to the Shepherd Center, Abercrombie’s family has been able to visit him more easily.
He’s received a lot of attention. There was a trip to an Atlanta Hawks game earlier this week and visits from Georgia football coach Kirby Smart among others.
But there’s a lot of hard work ahead, with the family identifying a surgery to insert a diaphragm pacer that would allow him to breathe without a ventilator as an upcoming goal.
His dad relishes being able to do things that resemble normalcy.
“We took him out to the streets of Atlanta and he was in good spirits,” Marty said. “He was able to eat some burritos but of course, it takes him a little time to eat. Ben has such an uplifting attitude. Everyone who visits with Ben walks away with an uplifting feeling, and it makes us feel so proud.’’
Harvard has created a fund to support the Abercrombie family and any future Harvard athletes who suffer catastrophic injuries. Last week, former Harvard running back Bob Glatz announced the fund had generated more than $220,000 in donations.
Abercrombie has been buoyed by visits from family and friends, and many Harvard players have also managed to make the trip, though the visit from Lee was especially notable.
Marty Abercrombie remains forever grateful for Lee’s unselfish act.
“Tanner Lee is just an amazing young man,” he said. “It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever witnessed. I still get chill-bumps when I think about it. Ben was uplifted by his visit and his gift, and we’ll always remember it.”
The younger Abercrombie’s time with the Harvard football team was limited, but his nickname lingers.
“Ben’s nickname from preseason was ‘Badger,’ and the team has adapted that slogan: Fight like a badger,” Marty Abercrombie said. “At the (end-of-season) banquet, Harvard captain Luke Hutton spoke about how you may not always understand things but that you have to approach it the way Ben does. That each and every day is going to be better and that everyone has challenges in life. That we have to keep in mind the challenges that Ben is facing.”
Community chips in
Others are joining in to help the Abercrombies, too.
On Sunday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, a Harvard alum, wore cleats supporting Abercrombie with the #StandUpForBen hashtag the family uses as part of the NFL’s “My Cause, My Cleats” campaign.
John Schall, the owner of El Jefe’s Taqueria on Mt. Auburn Street in Cambridge, has pledged an all-day fundraiser on Dec. 12 in which he’ll donate all revenue to the Abercrombie Fund.
“It’s going to be a great day. We’re going to be open from 8 a.m. to 4 a.m. the following day. I want to serve 1,500 to 2,000 people. Every penny will to go the Abercrombie Fund,” Schall said.
Schall knows too well how impactful a spinal cord injury can be. His brother, Mike, was a star miler in track and a swimmer in their hometown of Clinton, Iowa, when he was injured in a car accident. Then several years ago, John Schall helped raise $40,000 for a former customer, Brenna Bean, who was also injured in a car accident and needed an accessorized Jeep after being treated at Spaulding Rehab Hospital.
“It takes a huge amount of resources after a tragic accident like this,” John Schall said. “Ben wasn’t around here that long, but after he was injured, I just knew that I had to do something.”
There’s more help coming from closer to the Abercrombies’ home as well.
Marty Abercrombie owns a franchise of the Wing Zone restaurant in Hoover, and the chain — whose CEO Matt Freedman visited Ben last week — is having a national fundraiser on Wednesday when it will give away five free wings to customers and donate $1 for every set of wings its customers order.
Meanwhile, back in Hoover, a large group of volunteers helped clean out the Abercrombie basement so that work can begin on renovations to their house.
“Everyone up there at Harvard has been so supportive and giving,” said Marty Abercrombie, who holds out hope Ben might be on hand to watch next year’s Harvard-Yale game at Fenway Park.
“Ben might be back in school by then. You never know.”