Ben Abercrombie Looks Back on Time at Harvard Ahead of Graduation and Annual Fundraiser

Seven years after suffering a spinal cord injury on a tackle attempt that left him paralyzed from the neck down, former Harvard Football player Ben M. Abercrombie ’21-’25 has sights set on his next milestone: graduation.

“Goal one’s to graduate, get pretty good grades while doing it,” said Abercrombie, who is an Economics concentrator living in Winthrop House.

On Tuesday, hundreds of Harvard affiliates will pour into El Jefe’s Taqueria for one last time to support Abercrombie in his path toward graduation — and recovery.

Since Abercrombie’s injury, El Jefe’s — a Mexican restaurant beloved by undergraduate students — has hosted an annual Ben Abercrombie Day to raise money for him. But as Abercrombie prepares to graduate in May, this year will likely be the last time El Jefe’s host the annual fundraiser.

Every dollar earned by the store on Tuesday will go to a fund that benefits Abercrombie’s medical transport, physical therapy, and the purchasing of key medical equipment for him.

“We’re so excited at El Jefe's for this upcoming 7th Annual Ben Abercrombie Day (BAD),” El Jefe’s owner John Schall wrote in a statement. “What Ben has accomplished over his years at Harvard is nothing short of extraordinary in so many ways!”

“So prior to his graduation this coming May, we want to make this last BAD be the biggest one ever, and send Ben on his way in grand fashion,” Schall added.

In an interview, Abercrombie expressed appreciation for all the support he and his family have received from Schall and El Jefe’s.

“I couldn’t be more thankful for John and everything he’s done for me,” Abercrombie said. “The support from the whole community to come to El Jefe’s and order multiple times and stuff like that. It’s really incredible how much they care and want to help me out.”

Harvard Football player Tanner J. Lee '18 speaks with the media outside El Jefe's Taqueria during the first annual Ben Abercrombie Day fundrasier. Seven years later, the restaurant continues to support Abercrombie in his recovery. By Courtesy of Harvard Varsity Club

Abercrombie also said he was really grateful for his faculty members and how they have worked to help him in the classroom.

“I have to type with my eyes, and use my computer with my eyes to do my schoolwork,” he said. “And every class I’ve taken, all the teachers really have asked me if I need anything else, and they always check in to make sure everything’s OK.”

“That’s one thing I'll miss — just how caring the faculty and staff are.”

Excited to don a cap and gown, Abercrombie is already charting the next steps of his path.

“I plan to be a financial manager for athletes,” he said. “The background story on that is my best friend from high school, his dad is a financial manager for professional athletes. That’s how I started getting interested in it.”

In addition to mapping out his professional career, Abercrombie has taken massive strides in recovering from his injury.

“It’s still like a slow, slow process because spinal cord injuries are tough to recover from,” said Abercrombie.

Abercrombie’s phrenic nerve — extending from the spinal cord to the diaphragm — effectively stopped working after the hit. After several surgeries, including a successful nerve graft in which nerves from his calves were taken to repair the phrenic nerve, Abercrombie has been moved to a diaphragmatic pacer, a device that mimics the diaphragm.

His atrophied diaphragm has been strengthened by the pacer, which gives the muscle 18 electrical pulses per minute. With three sessions a week on a functional electrical stimulator bike, Abercrombie’s muscles are slowly starting to recover.

“One other thing I should say about our recovery is I’ve had a little bit of success, kind of twitching my thumbs and fingers and things like that. So that’s another big development that kind of happened in the past year or so,” Abercrombie said.

In his journey, support from both the Harvard community and his hometown of Hoover, Ala. has been invaluable.

“Hoover rallies around and makes sure that I have what I need, things like that. So, I mean, the support has been great,” Abercrombie said. “And then up here support has been incredible, with all the fundraisers and all the just general things that the faculty and staff do to make sure that everything I need for classes.”

Abercrombie is especially appreciative of his peers’ financial support.

“It's incredible how many Harvard alums and just Harvard students come to these fundraisers and help me raise money so that, I guess, like the financial burden and things of all the stuff that we have to pay for, for the injury, in terms of technology, just care and transportation and stuff like that, it’s a big deal. So it's just been incredible.”

Abercrombie’s close relationship with Harvard’s football team continued under new Head Coach Andrew Aurich.

Upon meeting Abercrombie, Aurich said he was immediately blown away.

“I met Ben shortly after I got hired. He comes over here every week and does rehab in the training room,” said Aurich. “His love for football is the best I've seen.”

The Harvard football team keeps Abercrombie close and involved, even naming the “The Badger Award” in his honor. The award, which Aurich labeled as one of the team’s most “prestigious,” is given to a player for their work ethic and will.

“For him to be where he's at right now, it’s just testament to how much resilience he has,” Aurich said.

This year, the Badger Award was bestowed upon senior linebacker Eric Little Jr.

“It's something that I never thought would happen,” Abercrombie said. “It kind of makes me speechless.”

“I couldn’t be more thankful for everything Harvard’s given me, all the support they've given me,” he added.

—Staff writer Praveen Kumar can be reached at praveen.kumar@thecrimson.com.