Buffalo Bills star safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest while playing against the Cincinnati Bengals in the last season. He showcased a heroic spirit and staged a miraculous recovery to make a remarkable comeback this season. After surviving the scary ordeal, Hamlin now knows the severity of this medical emergency and he has continued on a mission to raise awareness about CPR and AED among people.
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Damar Hamlin has conducted CPR tours in different cities to make people learn about hands-on CPR. A few months ago, he organized a CPR Tour in Cincinnati, and just this Sunday, he hosted another one in the city. Earlier, the Bills star also held three CPR Tours in Orchard Park, New York, and in Pittsburgh. Recently, Hamlin, through his Chasing M Foundation, announced a scholarship program, ‘Damar Hamlin’s Cincinnati Heroes Scholarship’ which will be awarded in the name of 10 people who played a big role in saving his life earlier.
Additionally, he has donated automated external defibrillators to the youth sports team. After his recovery, Hamlin started a GoFundMe set up for a day care which has collected more than $9 million from around the world. NFL on NBC reported how the Damar Hamlin incident has raised awareness throughout the league. They revealed because of Hamlin’s program, the defensive coordinator of the LA Rams, Raheem Morris could save a kid’s life. Moreover, before every NFL game, a team of doctors and medical personnel runs through the protocols in the event of a medical situation.
Damar Hamlin Returns to Paycor Stadium
The Buffalo Bills last met Cincinnati Bengals on Jan 2, 2023. However, the Monday night game came to a halt in the first quarter when Damar Hamlin experienced a cardiac arrest after a helmet struck his chest while making a tackle. A team of doctors rushed to the field and administered CPR on him. Afterward, he spent a week at the University of Cincinnati Medical Centre before returning to Buffalo for rehabilitation. He fully recovered and received clearance to resume football activities with the Bills in April this year.
He returned to Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, the place where he almost lost his life, for the first time after the horrific incident, that too against the Bengals themselves. While he didn’t take the field, he made the trip to the home stadium and warmed up on the sidelines for the much-anticipated rematch between the conference rivals.
However, the Bengals charged at the Bills with full force and ran out the clock with two first downs, upsetting Hamlin’s return to the stadium with a 24-18 win. The Bengals are now 5-3, but the Bills season record worsened to 5-4.
Before returning, he bonded over dinner with 10 people from the UC Medical Staff who took care of him during the unfortunate medical emergency. Later, he surprised them with a scholarship named after each of them. This scholarship program supports underserved high school and college students who wish to pursue higher education.
