During this year's ESPY Awards, an emotional Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin thanked the medical team that saved his life earlier this year.
In January, Hamlin went into cardiac arrest following a collision with Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins during a televised Monday Night Football game. Moments later, he was resuscitated on the field and transported to the hospital.
The news made national headlines and prompted an outpouring of prayer from his team and supporters worldwide.
During last Wednesday's Excellence in Sports Performance and Achievements awards ceremony, Hamlin thanked the first responders who saved his life and presented the Pat Tillman Award for Service to the Buffalo Bills training staff, CBN News reports.
"I didn't wake up that morning in January thinking that I would need someone to save my life that day, and I doubt that the staff thought that they had to do what they did either," he explained.
"What I've taken away from what happened to me six and a half months ago, is that any of us at any given time are capable of doing something that's incredible, in saving a life and living a life in service to others," Hamlin continued.
Damar Hamlin was brought to tears when presenting the Pat Tillman Award for Service to the training staff of the Buffalo Bills ❤️ 💙 pic.twitter.com/IThNKmREyC
— ESPN (@espn) July 13, 2023
"It's a blessing. It's a responsibility. And it's the very reason why you're hearing my voice right now. Anyone could be a hero. These are mine," he concluded.
After calling the staff onto the stage, they were met with a standing ovation from the audience. Hamlin appeared to break down in tears when the staff huddled around him, hugging him.
"By the grace of God and divine intervention, we had the best outcome we could have prayed for or imagined," The Bills' head athletic trainer Nate Breske said after accepting the award.
"It was a massive army of specialists who came together on and off the field to do their jobs at night. That team includes the athletic trainers and medical staffs, equipment, managers, player, engagement, personnel, mental health clinicians, chaplains, security on-field first responders, paramedics, and the entire medical staff at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center," he continued.
Related:
Buffalo Bills Safety Damar Hamlin Thanks Fans for Support as He Is Transferred to Buffalo Hospital
Damar Hamlin Is Discharged from the Hospital
'God Using Me in a Different Way': Bills' Damar Hamlin Grateful for Prayers
Buffalo Bills Safety Damar Hamlin ‘Fully Cleared’ to Play again, 3 Months after Collapse on Field
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Timothy T. Ludwig/Stringer
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
