Paralyzed Harvard football player gets phone call from Nick Saban

For those who are of the opinion that Nick Saban has no heart, here’s a definitive counterargument.

In Harvard’s 2017 season opener Sept. 16, Ben Abercrombie suffered a severe neck injury attempting to make the tackle of a Rhode Island wide receiver. The freshman cornerback, after being stabilized on the field, was rushed to a local hospital and underwent emergency surgery to repair a cervical injury.

Initially, Abercrombie was in an intensive care unit on a ventilator and had no feelings in either his arms or his legs. In an update posted to an online journal late this past week, Abercrombie’s father, Marty, stated that his son had regained some feeling in those areas even as he remains paralyzed.

The Abercrombies, who hail from Hoover, Ala., have been deluged by well-wishes and words of encouragement and support from far and wide, including from Alabama head football coach Nick Saban.

“He let our family know that everyone back in Alabama is thinking of us and ready to assist us during Ben’s recovery,” Marty Abercrombie said of the call the family received from Saban.

As for the latest update on Ben Abercrombie, his dad posted the following on Thursday on the same online journal:

Ben’s lungs have continued to improve even though he is still battling some congestion. The PT staff here had him sitting in a specialized chair today for over an hour! The respiratory staff performed some breathing therapy while he was sitting up and it helped to clear out a lot of congestion. With clearer lungs, Ben has started the weaning process from the ventilator and has done well. Ben is also regaining some feeling in his arms and legs. Praise God! We ask everyone to keep praying that Ben makes a successful transition to breathing without assistance and then we will shift focus to the paralysis.