Benjamin Campbell-Reide's Inspiring Story

On a typical November fall day late in the semester, Benjamin Campbell-Reide was at his off-campus house alone in his room when he suddenly collapsed. One of his housemates and teammates, Alex Dawallu, heard a loud noise from the fall and ran into the neighboring bedroom to check on his teammate, only to find Campbell-Reide passed out and unresponsive. Over the next four weeks Campbell-Reide would have a number of similar episodes as doctors raced to find out the cause of Ben's episodes. Twenty-six blood transfusions, 16 endoscopies and two laparoscopic surgeries later, he was released from the hospital and sent home to England just before the holidays with a new outlook on life.

What Campbell-Reide endured and his resiliency in the face of the unknown is why he was named the 2025 Syracuse 8 Courage Award recipient at the annual 'Cuse Awards on Tuesday night presented by former Football player, Greg Allen.

His teammates, coaches and Syracuse rowing community rallied around him and his family during the scary and uncertain time. After several weeks at Crouse Hospital, Campbell-Reide was transferred to Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston where it took the gastrointestinal doctors another 10 days to discover the lesion that was causing Ben's spells. The doctors ultimately found the lesion by putting him on a high-dose of blood thinners and watch him around the clock to force his lesion to start bleeding so they could locate it and preform an emergency surgery to heal the bleed.

At the annual 'Cuse Awards, Campbell-Reide was given the opportunity to thank those who were by his side during his medical emergencies including his medical team, coaches, teammates and roommates, Jennifer Street -- the mother of his teammate Anders Erlandsen, and his mom to traveled from England to be with him. He ended his acceptance speech with these words of encouragement; "Adversity can stop you or it can reveal you. You get to choose. Believe in yourself, take control and keep pushing. Because you cannot win if you do not believe you can."

Today, Campbell-Reide is back on the water competing with the Syracuse men's rowing team. He's helped the Second Varsity Eight to wins over Boston U, Georgetown, Navy and Cornell this spring and his parents were able to make a trip to the U.S. this season to see him race at the Lake Morey Invite.

Syracuse University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Benjamin Campbell-Reide

Alex Dawallu

Anders Erlandsen

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