Earlier this year, the football community feared for the life of Damar Hamlin. The Buffalo Bills NFL player collapses and needs CPR. Ahead of the Super Bowl, the 24-year-old returns to the spotlight and provides a goose bumps moment.
Six weeks after his cardiac arrest, professional football player Damar Hamlin performed just before the Super Bowl. The 24-year-old was on the field with his first responders in Glendale before the start of the National Football League finals between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. The Buffalo Bills defenseman hugged the medical staff and made a heart in the air with his hands.
Hamlin’s performance was another significant moment in his recovery. During the week of the Super Bowl, he had already spoken at the gala for the best players of the NFL season on Thursday, among other things. “All my life I have felt that God is using me to bring hope to others and now in the new circumstances I can say that He is doing what He has always done,” said Hamlin. “I have a long road ahead of me, a road full of uncertainties and a road full of milestones.”
He collapsed on the field on Jan. 2 in a regular-season game against the Cincinnati Bengals and required CPR. A week later he was able to leave the hospital in Cincinnati and two days later he was discharged from the hospital in Buffalo. Hamlin had already attended another Bills game in the playoffs – the loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
At the beginning of February he launched a campaign for the right behavior in medical emergencies. As part of a social media challenge, Hamlin shared information about the technique and use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation with the American Heart Association (AHA). This saved his life, “and it could also save your life or that of a loved one,” said Hamlin in a video that he shared via Twitter.
