Thursday’s NFL Honors featured a special segment in honor of Bills safety Damar Hamlin and the host of medical professionals who helped save his life after he went into cardiac arrest during a Jan. 2 game against the Bengals.
Hamlin walked onto the stage inside Phoenix’s Symphony Hall to a thunderous ovation after a rousing introduction from Emmy award-winning actress Sheryl Lee Ralph and Bills legend and Hall of Famer Jim Kelly. The Bills and Bengals medical staffs, as well as the staff at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, flanked the 24-year-old as he stood at the mic and delivered an emotional speech thanking them, his family and the rest of the world for their help and support.
“First, I would like to just thank God for even being here,” Hamlin began. “Every day, I am amazed that my experiences could encourage so many others across the country and even across the world. Encourage to pray, encourage to spread love and encouraged to keep fighting no matter the circumstances. Sudden cardiac arrest is nothing I would’ve ever chosen to be a part of my story but that’s because our own visions are too small even when we think we are seeing the bigger picture. “
