Damar Hamlin has been at the center of the sports world since Monday night when the Buffalo Bills safety suffered a cardiac arrest following a tackle against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football. After the early morning hours of Tuesday, no substantial news was revealed until the Bills posted an update on Hamlin’s condition on Wednesday afternoon.
The bills released their most recent statement at 1:30 pm on the team’s official website, saying the following:
“Damar remains in the ICU in critical condition with signs of improvement noted yesterday and overnight. He is expected to remain under intensive care as his health care team continues to monitor and treat him.”
As stadiums across the nation light themselves in the Bills’ blue and white to show their support for Hamlin and the organization, a Hamlin family spokesperson announced that Hamlin has received some “promising readings” and that the family hopes for more good news in the following days.
Damar Hamlin’s uncle, Dorrian Glenn, spoke to CNN to share another update on the status of his nephew:
“His heart had went out so they had to resuscitate him twice. They resuscitated him on the field before they brought him to the hospital and then they resuscitated him a second time when they got him to the hospital. They sedated him just to give a better chance for him to just continue to heal better. We are just taking it day by day. It seems like he’s trending upwards in a positive way”
In the aftermath of the hit, and subsequent injury, the media was quick to share stories of the man that Damar Hamlin is and the character that made him so beloved by his teammates. Hamlin is a devout Christian who lives a family-centric life, making it all the more touching to see players from all around the league insist on keeping Hamlin in their prayers.
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In November, Damar Hamlin spoke in an interview on the Bills’ Youtube page about the importance of faith and friendship in the locker room, and that he cherishes every day in NFL:
“It’s a super blessing, super blessing, I cherish it. I can’t even describe it, but I cherish it every second that I can. We just had our prayer, our DB prayer we do every Wednesday. He was next to me and I just grabbed his hand a little bit harder just because you know you never know when your last day could be that you get to experience something like this.”
This has sparked players to speak out about their faith in ways that were very seldom in recent years. Even ESPN had a prayer aired on national television, pleading for a full recovery for Hamlin. Dan Orlovsky, of ESPN, said this, in part:
“We just want to pray. Truly come to You and pray for strength for Damar, for healing for Damar, for comfort for Damar. To be with their family and give them peace. If we didn’t believe prayer worked we wouldn’t ask this of You, God. I believe in prayer. We believe in prayer. We lift up Damar Hamlin’s name in Your name. Amen.”
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— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) January 3, 2023