On Feb. 25, 2007, East Carolina's 6-foot-5, 320-pound offensive lineman suffered a blood clot in his heart that was diagnosed as acute coronary thrombosis. Surgery helped fix it.

But the setback forced him to miss last season, plus about a year of running and lifting. It also left him pondering whether to try football again or forget it.

After receiving clearance from a team of doctors in January, Campbell chose to play and again is grinding through the August heat and humidity.

"When I first started [in spring practice], I worried,'' he said. "Any little thing would scare me. Now I don't think about it. It feels like it never happened."

That was a major hurdle, getting past playing scared.

Now Campbell hopes to regain his form of 2006, when he started all 13 games at the tackle slots and made Conference USA's All-Freshman team.

That season the Pirates' heavyweight recorded 47 knockdown blocks, third highest on the team, and played 880 snaps.

He has a significant way to go to recapture that clout, but the Pirates are counting on him to contribute this season.

"We think he's going to be fine and play a ton of football,'' said co-offensive coordinator Steve Shankweiler, who coaches the offensive line. "He's much further along than he was in the spring."

Head coach Skip Holtz observed that Campbell is "knocking the rust off," doing it with a "million dollar smile," showing a lot of, well, heart.

Since his attack, Campbell has become nutrition conscious, favoring a diet with more fruit and vegetables and less fried foods. He's sort of an Emeril in shoulder pads, frequently cooking his own meals.

Additionally, he takes medication to help control blood pressure, cholesterol and his heart rate.

The attack left a scar on his heart wall. But East Carolina team physician, Joe Armen, said the "overall function" of Campbell's heart returned to normal following surgery to dissolve the blood clot.

Campbell, who grew up in Maxton and starred at Purnell Swett High, was a preseason all-conference pick by Phil Steele Magazine in 2007. Of course, he never played a game.

He still recalls that frightening February day in '07. He was coughing, felt numbness in his arm and pains in his chest.

So Campbell checked with head ECU trainer Mike Hanley and soon was at the hospital, undergoing tests, then heart surgery two days later.

It could have had a "catastrophic" ending if Hanley and the sports medicine staff hadn't been acutely tuned to the situation, Armen said.

While in the hospital, Campbell thought about his future and wondered if his playing days were over.

"That was hard to take, that I would have to live without [football],'' he said. "[But] I knew there's more to me than football."

Campbell is an honor student in communications, enjoys writing, and has an interest in sports journalism.

He has always taken school seriously, according to his mother, Jenette Campbell, who remembers her son getting upset after making his first B in high school.

"As a child, he always wanted to do the right thing ... always wanted to excel in school,'' Jenette said. "He put high standards on himself."

The year away from football tested Campbell, whose physical activity was dramatically limited.

People of faith, Terence and his mother prayed. They also consulted several doctors about the risk of playing football again.

Campbell got official clearance in January and Jenette gave him the OK as well, but still says "be careful and listen to your body."

"[Terence's] faith, patience and perseverance tells a lot about his character,'' Armen said. "He's an extraordinary young man ... [And] he's getting a second chance at life."

Campbell intends to make the most of it, and with a thankful heart.

"I'm very blessed,'' he said.

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