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Alola Campbell talks to son Bryan Campbell as he gets ready for a nap.

(Thomas Boyd, The Oregonian/2011)

EUGENE -- Bryan Campbell, the son of Oregon running backs coach Gary Campbell who defied expectations to live with a neuromuscular condition doctors initially said he wouldn't live past a year with, died Thursday at age 29.

Campbell passed away in the morning, an Oregon official said, from complications of a neuromuscular condition called Werdnig-Hoffman syndrome that makes it impossible to move from the neck down.

Campbell was not at practice Thursday, as he hasn't been as his son's health has deteriorated during fall camp. Campbell said in an interview Wednesday he'd only been to two practices in order to spend time with his family as they mourned.

The relationship Bryan Campbell shared with his family has been written about several times, a relationship the elder Campbell -- in his 31st year as an assistant coach at Oregon -- shared with his players and fellow coaches, too.

The Oregonian's Lindsay Schnell

ahead of the 2012 Rose Bowl.

A ceiling lift helps pull him from his bed to his wheelchair, so Bryan can watch TV and join the family at the dinner table. He went to school, and his wheelchair rolled across the stage when he received his diploma from South Eugene High School. Not a day goes by where he sits alone in his room. And he's no stranger to the team. When the Ducks' stable of running backs convenes at the Campbell household, you can bet Bryan is in the thick of it. "If we're eating dinner, if we're out in the backyard playing around, Bryan is always there," says LaMichael James. "I think he knows us. I guess he's the only one who really knows if he knows, but he moves his eyes when he sees us. I've seen him at practice, at bowl games, on the airplane ... he's just like one of us."

But in reality, Bryan is different than all the athletes who have come through the Ducks program and blossomed under Gary Campbell's eye. He will never walk, never throw a football. Gary says Bryan "communicates with his eyes, he smiles with his eyes." But Bryan will never be able to say "I love you" to his dad.



in 2011 showcased how Bryan's medical needs reshaped the family and helped keep his father at Oregon for so many years.

Campbell cameoed in the NFL until a bum knee forced him out, bounced to a few coaching spots then landed at Oregon in 1983. Not long after that his son Bryan was born (he and wife Alola also have three daughters) with severe disabilities. Bryan’s need for intensive medical care realigned Campbell’s priorities, steering him away from the 100-hour weeks and itinerant lifestyle required if he wanted to be a head coach.



I had the chance to talk with Gary Campbell on Wednesday about running backs, a topic he acknowledged was far from the top of his priorities at the moment. He was extremely gracious to answer questions.

Schnell wrote in her story about the bond Campbell shared with Oregon athletes. Already Thursday night, some were offering their condolences.

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