Brothers of Branford Boy Who Drowned Win Prestigious Award

BRANFORD, CT - It was without a doubt the saddest story of 2017 in the town of Branford. The drowning of 10-year-old Ben Callahan in the Branford River in July paralyzed the community for days, weeks, months - even till today.

One family kept striving to move forward, to find positives to focus on - that being Ben's family.

The latest example of that positive thinking was that Ben's brothers - Scout and Cooper have been named the winners of the prestigious Walter Camp Football Foundation Essay Contest.

That news was announced in a story by Randall Beach in the New Haven Register. Beach reports in the Register that Scout, 9, and Cooper, 12, along with their parents will be on hand for all the Walter Camp festivities this weekend in New Haven.

The boys' essay, Beach writes, said in part: "We lost our brother, we didn't lose our family. We lost our teammate, we didn't lose the love to play."

Beach writes that the boys also noted in their essay that after Ben's death they started the Ben Callahan Memorial Foundation, which is a fund dedicated to raising funds for philanthropic causes in the Branford area.

Ben's death mobilized the Branford community in a way never seen before.

A memorial near where he drowned still has daily visitors and recently a memorial garden in Ben's name was dedicated close to the where he drowned.

The memorial is loaded with fresh flowers and sports memorabilia.

In the days after his death, a vigil was held at the Town Green, attended by thousands of well wishers and there have been a number of events held in Ben’s memory, since the boy’s passing.

A special workout session in Ben’s honor, held where his father is a trainer, at Shoreline Athletics in Branford, raised thousands of dollars.

You can ready Randy Beach's full story here.

photos by Jack Kramer