For Damar Hamlin, life has come full circle. He had hoped to win awards in the league until that unfortunate day. During the week 17 game of the 2022 season against the Bengals, the safety got hit by Tee Higgins. After suffering the blow to the chest, he stood up and collapsed just a few seconds later. His heart stopped because of the blow, a condition known as commotio cordis. The game was canceled.
Two years later, in 2024, his life has completely changed, with great memories. While presenting the 2023 Pat Tillman Award to the Bills’ training staff, who saved his life, he broke down into tears. It happened when the Chiefs TE Travis Kelce stood up to give a standing ovation. In fact, he was the first one to stand, showing his respect for the strong willpower Hamlin displayed in the ordeal. The rest of the NFL fraternity also followed suit, stood up and cheered for the Bills’ star. It was a scene worth watching.
HEARTWARMING: When Damar Hamlin was in tears while presenting the Pat Tillman Award to the #Bills training staff for saving his life.
❤️💙
Hamlin got to live & continue to play, and is now about to voted as the AFC Pro Bowl safety. Remarkable. pic.twitter.com/SJPee7OkgH
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) December 20, 2024
The whole place was filled with sounds of claps and cheers for Josh Allen’s teammate. At that moment, he too could feel the emotions. Holding himself, he announced, “Please welcome this year’s recipient of the Pat Tillman Award for Service. The training staff of the Buffalo Bills.” That’s a magnificent tribute. Had the Bills training staff not been fast that time, the situation could have turned worse.
Commotio cordis condition is 97% fatal if not treated within three minutes. And within the next 10 seconds, when he collapsed, the training staff was attending to him, giving him CPR and other treatments. They brought in an ambulance too, within the next 4 minutes. For 10 minutes, they kept trying on the field but immediately rushed him to the hospital when he didn’t show any improvement.
It was for their efforts only that he was safe till the time the doctors attended to him. It’s crazy to think how quickly things can go from 100 to 0 on the gridiron. The sports represent life in general. The courageous one gets the most reward. Hamlin must have been thinking about this after his latest achievement.
Damar Hamlin voted as the AFC Pro Bowl Safety
His popularity skyrocketed after that massive ordeal. It was one of those moments where no one could have predicted his return. But he did. In 13 games in 2024, he recorded 83 tackles (58 solo) with 2 interceptions. The NFL announced him as the AFC Pro Bowl Safety. It’s huge.
Fans are happy for Josh Allen’s teammate. They have shown their support in every way they can since that incident. Even when Damar Hamlin was in the hospital, they donated millions of dollars to buy toys for the children of his hometown of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, outside Pittsburgh.
