American football star Daman Hamlin, who plays safety for the Buffalo Bills, launched a Cincinnati scholarship program in honor of the medical team who saved his life.
The athlete's charitable foundation. Known as Chasing M's, will be giving out $1,000 scholarships to 10 individuals from the area's under-served communities for each of the next three years. Each of the individual scholarships will be named after the team of first responders, nurses, and doctors who treated the football star.
Cincinnati Scholarship Program
The incident involved Hamlin suffering cardiac arrest and the medical team resuscitating him on the field during a game at Cincinnati on Jan. 2. The announcement of the scholarship program coincides with the Bills' first return to the Ohio city to play the Bengals on Sunday night.
Hamlin and his team arrived in town a day earlier when the athlete personally unveiled the scholarship program during a dinner with the medical team. In a released statement, the athlete said that he was humbled to have the opportunity to set up a scholarship program to honor the team of medical professionals who saved his life, as per Local12.
He added that as he was looking at honoring his Cincinnati heroes he was reminded of the enormous blessing that he was given through his charity and the generosity of people worldwide. Hamlin was the recipient of a scholarship that allowed him to attend Central Catholic High School.
Hamlin eventually went on to play for the University of Pittsburgh and was drafted by the Bills in 2021. While the football star established the foundation while still in college to give back to local youths, it was not until his medical dilemma that led to Chasing M's attracting more than $9 million in contributions.
Since his near-death experience, Hamlin used his charity to distribute automated external defibrillators to community sports associations and promote CPR training. The 25-year-old football star resumed his career by making the Bills roster in August.
Damar Hamlin's Near-Death Experience
Hamlin's cardiac arrest incident was a result of an in-game occurrence where he took a blow to the chest that caused his heart to stop. Officials later said that the player's heartbeat was restored on the field before he was taken away in an ambulance, according to CBS News.
At the time, he was in critical condition and his uncle revealed that the athlete had to use a ventilator. However, Hamlin soon began to show remarkable improvement and he was later able to speak to his teammates.
The football player was later discharged from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center to Buffalo General Hospital in New York about a week after his cardiac arrest. Medical professionals sent him home on Jan. 11, after he spent nine days in treatment.
Hamlin spoke about his experiences following the incident and said that as much as he wants to be a superstar, he does not enjoy the spotlight. He said that he does not prefer all the attention that comes with it, whether it is positive or negative, said the Associated Press.
