Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s life was saved on January 2. His experience will save lives.
Hamlin is making sure of it.
Via Alaina Gatzenberg of ESPN.com, Hamlin launched his CPR Tour in Buffalo on Saturday. It is the first program for his Chasing M’s Foundation.
Hamlin distributed 50 AEDs to local youth football teams at the Bills’ Hands-Only CPR event. He will take his tour to multiple other cities, including Pittsburgh (where he’s from) and Cincinnati (where he suffered cardiac arrest during a game).
“The Chasing M’s Foundation will be giving AEDs to sports and community groups for kids to be safe while they are chasing their dreams,” Hamlin said. “And this program is very important, because it gives lifesaving care to kids in their own communities and on their fields.”
Hamlin’s foundation received millions in donations in the days following his the saving of his life by Bills medical staff during a game against the Bengals.
Even without donations from Hamlin and teams like the Saints and Packers of AEDs to youth sports groups, Hamlin’s experience will save lives. His situation has increased awareness regarding the use of CPR and AEDs for situations involving cardiac arrest.
And it already has saved a life, as recently evidenced by Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris having the presence of mind to ask for the AED when a three-year-old nearly drowned in a Las Vegas pool.