Photo by Barry Stephenson.
Hoover students paint Ben Abercrombie's name and jersey number on their backs to show their support at the game against Tuscaloosa County on Friday, Sept. 22, at the Hoover Met.
Ben Abercrombie has hit some speed bumps in his recovery since sustaining a paralyzing spinal cord injury in September. But according to his father, Marty Abercrombie, the Hoover High School alumnus remains in good spirits as he rehabs six days a week at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta.
“We were proud of him before for his athletics and academics,” Marty Abercrombie said, “but that pales in comparison to the attitude he’s had the last seven and a half weeks.”
Ben Abercrombie, a freshman defensive back on the Harvard football team, fractured his C4 vertebrae and dislodged his C3 vertebrae in the second quarter of his team’s Sept. 17 game at the University of Rhode Island. The injury occurred as he extended for a tackle.
Marty Abercrombie and his wife, Sherri, watched the play unfold from their Hoover home. They had been watching the game via an online livestream.
“As you can imagine, that was terrifying for us being at our house 1,000 miles away,” Marty Abercrombie said.
The damaged vertebrae compressed Ben Abercrombie’s spinal cord, causing him to lose functionality from the neck down. He was immediately taken to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, where he underwent surgery to realign the cervical bones and remove pressure from his spinal cord.
The couple arrived at the hospital as their son completed surgery around 11 p.m. on the day of the incident. They had booked the first flight they could find, which meant driving to Atlanta, flying to Boston and then driving from Boston to Providence.
“It was the longest 12 hours of our lives,” Marty Abercrombie said.
Ben Abercrombie stayed at Rhode Island Hospital for three and a half weeks, during which he battled pneumonia. When he was stable enough to be transported, he was flown from Providence to Atlanta on an AirMed International jet. He arrived at the Shepherd Center, which specializes in spinal cord and brain injury rehab, in early October.
Marty and Sherri Abercrombie have temporarily relocated to Atlanta to be with their son for the extent of his stay. The long-term goal is to bring him back to Hoover, though no timeline has been set. Ben Abercrombie continues to breathe with the aid of a ventilator, and he recently underwent an operation to clear up his sinuses. His father said he has regained certain sensations in his extremities, but he is not yet able to act on them.
“It’s a big difference between feeling sensation and telling your hand to move,” Marty Abercrombie said.
Ben Abercrombie is striving daily to boost his chances of making that a reality. Marty Abercrombie said his son works with physical, occupational, speech and respiratory therapists six days a week, and he approaches each session with a concentrated effort.
Part of his therapy includes a muscle-stimulation regimen that is administered to prevent atrophy. That way his muscles will be ready to receive signals as his spinal cord heals.
Currently, Ben Abercrombie moves around the Shepherd Center in a motorized wheelchair that he controls through a sip-and-puff system. By inhaling (sipping) and exhaling (puffing), he can navigate unassisted.
The Abercrombies remain hopeful that Ben will regain full mobility in his extremities as time passes on. Doctors have told them the progress will be slow but steady.
“We just have to trust God’s timing,” Marty Abercrombie said.
Family friend David Bannister, meanwhile, has helped spearhead the local campaign to make sure the Abercrombies have what they need during this challenging time. Bannister has long been in charge of sponsorship, marketing and fundraising for the Hoover High football program, and he has used those skills to raise support for the Abercrombies.
Bannister took the lead in organizing the Stand Up for Ben Day on Sept. 25. More than 70 local businesses participated by donating a portion of their proceeds to the Ben Abercrombie Fund, which was established to help the Abercrombies offset their wave of unexpected travel and medical expenses.
Bannister said more than $50,000 has been deposited in the fund as a result of the efforts, which also have included Stand Up for Ben nights at local high school and youth football games.
Oak Mountain, Pleasant Grove and Thompson high schools, along with Pelham Youth Sports, have all joined the Hoover athletics community in holding fundraising events.
“I was blown away because modestly, internally, our goal was to maybe raise $15,000 to $20,000,” Bannister said. “We thought that would be a home run.”
An additional $65,000, he said, has been directed to the Abercrombies through a Harvard Varsity Club fund established to honor Ben Abercrombie.
Support continues to roll in. The sale of Stand Up for Ben T-shirts and wristbands provide an ongoing revenue stream, and donations to the Ben Abercrombie Fund can still be made through Christ the King Lutheran Church and the Trace Crossings location of Regions Bank.
Bannister said he plans to start using the Stand Up for Ben platform to approach local businesses and contractors who can help make Ben Abercrombie’s life workable once he returns to Hoover. The Abercrombies will likely have to modify their home so that it is wheelchair accessible.
In addition to the rush of financial support, Marty Abercrombie said his family has received significant encouragement from the outpouring of spiritual support. The Abercrombies have read the countless cards and online posts that people have written and have watched the videos that have been made.
The collective message has been characterized by love and compassion, Marty Abercrombie said. It has uplifted them all.
“Everybody’s just rallied around us,” he said. “It’s wonderful to know [Ben] isn’t forgotten and everyone is pulling for him and praying for him.”
