Damar Hamlin Tears Up While Presenting Buffalo Bills Training Staff With Pat Tillman Award At 2023 ESPY Awards

etcanada.com:

Damar Hamlin got to give back to his Buffalo Bills family in a big way at the 2023 ESPY Awards on Sunday night, and got emotional as he reflected on the fateful day when he almost lost his life.

The 25-year-old athlete presented the team’s training staff with this year’s Pat Tillman Award for Service in honor of their part in providing life-saving medical care to him during his near-fatal incident on the field during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals in January.

Hamlin came out on the stage and introduced a video, which he narrated, recalling how his life was saved by the training staff and how they became his heroes. “Thanks to their training, their poise and their commitment to serve others, the Bills training staff kept me alive,” Hamlin explained in the video. “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 training staff thought that they would have to do what they did either.” “That, as much as anything else, is what I took away from what happened to me six and a half months ago — that any of us, at any given time, are capable of doing something as incredible as saving a life, and living a life in service of others,” he added. “It’s a blessing.” As the video package ended, Hamlin could be seen wiping tears from his eyes as he was overcome by his gratitude for the training staff and memories of the frightening incident.

As he fought back tears, he was met with a standing ovation from the entire audience, who cheered for the young athlete and his resilience.