Damar Hamlin is a Buffalo Bills safety whose public role expanded significantly after he survived cardiac arrest during an NFL game in January 2023. His return to football became one part of a broader story that now includes CPR education, AED access, youth programs, and work through the Chasing M’s Foundation.
Before the medical emergency, Hamlin was already building an NFL career after playing at the University of Pittsburgh and being drafted by Buffalo. Since his recovery, he has continued competing professionally while also working with organizations such as the American Heart Association to promote emergency preparedness. He has said directly that this work has given him a sense of purpose beyond football.
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Damar Romeyelle Hamlin |
| Hometown | McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania |
| College | University of Pittsburgh |
| NFL team | Buffalo Bills |
| Position | Safety |
| Jersey number | No. 3 |
| Height | 6 feet |
| Weight | 200 pounds |
| Foundation | Chasing M’s Foundation |
The 2023 Cardiac Arrest That Changed His Path
On January 2, 2023, Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest during a Buffalo Bills game against the Cincinnati Bengals. He received emergency treatment on the field before being hospitalized.
The event changed the direction of his life both professionally and publicly. In the months that followed, attention focused first on his recovery and then on whether he could return to professional football.
Hamlin did not immediately identify a cause while medical testing continued. By April 18, 2023, however, he told reporters that specialists who had evaluated him had concluded that commotio cordis caused the cardiac arrest. Hamlin relayed that description directly as what his doctors had determined.
On the same day, the Bills’ general manager Brandon Beane announced that Hamlin had been fully cleared for football activities following consultations with specialists. That clearance allowed him to work toward a return rather than end his playing career after the emergency.
Returning to the NFL Was a Personal Decision
Medical clearance did not make the decision to play again automatic. Hamlin later described the comeback as a difficult personal process.
In a 2023 GQ interview, he said he had questioned whether he truly wanted to return to football after what happened. He had already announced his intention to return, but he still had to work through the possibility of another serious event. Hamlin ultimately described playing again as a decision he made for himself, not one driven by public expectations.
The psychological side of the recovery remained important even after he resumed football activity. He later spoke about confronting fear, anxiety, and doubt as he worked back toward competition. In a 2025 Men’s Health discussion, he said that rebuilding mentally had been harder for him than the physical side of returning.
Hamlin made his regular-season NFL return in October 2023. In a February 2024 interview with PEOPLE, he described the comeback as emotional and said the experience had forced him to learn more about himself while facing fear directly.
His return eventually moved beyond a limited comeback appearance. In 2024, he became a regular starter for Buffalo and started 14 games.
His Football Career Continued Beyond the Comeback
Hamlin’s NFL career began well before the January 2023 emergency. He played defensive back at the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned second-team All-ACC recognition in 2020.
The Buffalo Bills selected him with the 212th overall pick in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He became a contributor in Buffalo before a cardiac arrest interrupted his third professional season.
After returning, his role increased. Buffalo’s official statistics list 79 total tackles, five passes defended, and two interceptions in 2024, when he started 14 games.
His 2025 season was shorter. A pectoral injury limited him to five games, and Buffalo placed him on injured reserve on October 11, 2025.
The team continued its relationship with him afterward. Buffalo announced on March 27, 2026, that Hamlin had signed another one-year deal with the Bills. The team did not disclose financial terms for that agreement.
His current Buffalo and NFL profiles list him as a 6-foot, 200-pound safety wearing No. 3. Those current measurements differ slightly from his old Pitt listing, which recorded him at 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds.
Chasing M’s Became a Platform for Community Work
Hamlin’s community work did not begin after the cardiac arrest. He established Chasing M’s while still in college, originally connecting the project to giving back to children and supporting the community around his mother’s daycare.
The organization later developed into the Chasing M’s Foundation, which describes its work as focused on youth development, health, safety, CPR education, and community programming.
Hamlin has connected that work to the values he learned from his family. In a 2026 interview, he spoke about the opportunities and structure his parents, Mario and Nina Hamlin, provided as he grew up. He said one meaningful part of adulthood was being able to recognize what they invested in him.
Community work has also become part of the way he now describes his broader purpose. In the same 2026 interview, Hamlin said football once seemed likely to be his main source of fulfillment, but work involving youth empowerment and emergency preparedness gave him another direction beyond the sport.
CPR and AED Advocacy Became Central to His Public Work
After surviving cardiac arrest, Hamlin became increasingly involved in public efforts around CPR education and access to automated external defibrillators.
The American Heart Association has identified him as a Nation of Lifesavers national ambassador. Through his work with the organization and Chasing M’s, he has participated in programs intended to help more people learn how to respond during cardiac emergencies.
The advocacy has included both CPR education and AED access. In March 2025, those efforts expanded internationally through programming in Japan involving the American Heart Association and Chasing M’s.
His public work is closely connected to his own experience, but he has not framed it only around himself. He has described CPR and AED work as part of a broader purpose beyond football, while his foundation and partnership with the American Heart Association have supported emergency-preparedness education.
That advocacy now operates alongside his NFL career rather than replacing it. He has continued football activities while maintaining a public role centered on emergency response awareness and youth-focused community programs.
A Record-Setting CPR Event Expanded the Mission in 2026
One of the clearest examples of Hamlin’s CPR advocacy came on April 24, 2026, at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.
Hamlin participated in a large Hands-Only CPR training event involving the Chasing M’s Foundation, the American Heart Association, the NFL, and Doctor Mike. According to the American Heart Association, 1,293 people received Hands-Only CPR instruction in one hour.
The event earned a Guinness World Records title for the training achievement. The American Heart Association publicly confirmed the result several days later.
For Hamlin, the event connected his Pittsburgh-area roots with the public mission that developed after his cardiac arrest. Pitt records list McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, as Hamlin’s hometown, and confirm that he attended Pittsburgh Central Catholic before playing college football at Pitt.
His advocacy also received broader recognition in 2026. ESPN named him one of three finalists for the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award, alongside Adam Thielen and Stephen Curry. Hamlin was a finalist, not the winner; ESPN later confirmed that Curry received the award.
Family, Faith, and Personal Growth Shaped His Outlook
Hamlin has spoken directly about how family, faith, and recovery have shaped his priorities.
Official Pitt records identify his parents as Mario and Nina Hamlin, while Buffalo’s 2023 reporting identified his younger brother as Damir. Hamlin has credited his parents with creating opportunities for him and keeping him focused as he grew up.
In an April 2026 interview, he also spoke openly about prayer, love, and seeking God first as sources of peace and direction. His comments support describing faith as part of his outlook without assigning a specific denomination or religious identity beyond what he has said himself.
His priorities around health have also changed. In a June 2026 first-person Business Insider account, Hamlin said he had become more intentional about nutrition, recovery, fitness, and longevity. He described exercising with his parents and paying closer attention to how he approaches food and physical recovery.
Hamlin has also discussed earlier hardships that shaped him before the cardiac arrest. He said he had lost friends to gun violence, experienced his father’s incarceration during childhood, and undergone three surgeries during his freshman year at Pitt.
Those experiences shape how he now talks about growth and adversity. In interviews, he has discussed the fear, uncertainty, and adjustment involved in rebuilding his football career and everyday life.
Damar Hamlin’s Comeback Now Extends Beyond Football
Damar Hamlin remains with the Buffalo Bills after continuing his NFL career following the cardiac arrest he suffered during a game in January 2023. His return included medical clearance, a regular-season comeback, a starting role in 2024, and another Buffalo contract announced in 2026.
At the same time, his public work has grown beyond the field. Chasing M’s has become the main platform for his youth and community efforts, while partnerships with the American Heart Association have placed CPR education and AED access at the center of his advocacy.
Hamlin has described that work as part of a larger purpose that emerged after his cardiac arrest. His football career and public mission now continue side by side, with his experience informing both his personal priorities and his commitment to helping more people prepare for cardiac emergencies.
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