Harvard University pulls together to help injured football player

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A freshmen at Harvard University will have an easier time paying off his extensive medical bills, thanks to his classmates.

Ben Abercrombie suffered a spinal cord injury in the first varsity football game of the season. Three months after that game, Abercrombie is still on a ventilator, and unable to move his arms or legs.

With medical expenses piling up, Harvard students wanted to help.  A group of varsity athletes partnered with El Jefe’s, a restaurant in Harvard Square, for Abercrombie Day on Tuesday.

“He was a great player and he played super hard and it’s very sad what happened,” Abercrombie’s teammate Tanner Lee said. “When he came in I was just his biggest fan, just cheering him on.”

The event started at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning with students and others lined up for the grab-and-go food. Customers were encouraged to donate extra money by tipping or dropping money into a helmet on the counter.

“For them to do that today, make this Ben Abercrombie day and for the local restaurant participate just lets Ben know that he's not being forgotten about,” Ben’s dad Marty Abercrombie said.

El Jefe's is owned by John Schall, whose brother was a young athlete left paralyzed after a car accident. For him, this fundraiser is personal and a small price to pay to help Abercrombie.

“I just wanted him to know that everybody in Harvard square and everybody at Harvard University had his back and we were going to be here for him,” he said.

Currently, Abercrombie is at Shepherd Center in Atlanta where he recently underwent a procedure to get a diaphragm pacing system, which would allow him to breath on his own. Unfortunately, his father said in a Facebook post, the system did not work for him, but he is resting comfortably on a ventilator once again.

Abercrombie is able to eat and talk well, and his team has let him know they are thinking about him.

Cox Media Group