Just a few weeks after he collapsed from cardiac arrest during the Buffalo Bills’ Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Damar Hamlin made his first public appearance to his fans. After acknowledging that the experience had been “a lot to process,” he expressed his gratitude. “I can’t tell you how appreciative I am for all the love, all the support,” Hamlin said in a video released by the Bills. He also thanked the many people involved in saving his life. “What happened to me on Monday Night Football, I feel, is a direct example of God using me as a vessel to share my passion and my love directly from my heart with the entire world. And now I’m able to give kids and communities all across the world who need it most,” he said. 

Hamlin’s collapse brought attention to his GoFundMe that he had started in 2020 for a toy drive for his charity, Chasing M’s. At the time of his collapse, the drive had raised nearly $3000. At the time of this writing, the fund has raised over $9 million. Hamlin has made his charity an official 501(c)(3). “And now I’m able to give to kids and communities all across the world who need it the most. And that’s always been my dream,” he added. “That’s always been what I stood for and what I will continue to stand for.” Hamlin was released from the hospital on January 11th and did not give out any details about what caused his cardiac arrest or what his future with the team may look like. He stated, “This is just the beginning of the impact that I wanted to have on the world. And with God’s guidance, I will continue to do wonderful and great things.”

The incident has brought faith in public spaces, particularly in sports, to the forefront. ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky openly prayed for Hamlin on NFL Live after his collapse. “God, we come to you in these moments that we don’t understand, that are hard, because we believe that you’re God and coming to you and praying to you has impact,” he prayed. He went on to say, “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 his family, to give them peace. If we didn’t believe that prayer . . . worked, we wouldn’t ask this of you, God.” Fellow believer and analyst Marcus Spears and host Laura Rutledge bowed their heads along with Orlovsky’s prayer. Cole Claybourn, a podcast producer and writer at Sports Spectrum, discussed the opportunities that Hamlin’s situation had presented to Christians in their own work settings. “Horrific situations also occur in all our work environments, and though our words may not be broadcast publicly like Orlovsky and Watson’s, we can have an influence for eternity by following the example of people who are unashamed to testify to Christ,” he wrote.