When Buffalo Bills defender Damar Hamlin paid Zeke, a teenage athlete who had undergone heart surgery, a surprise visit, he was motivated.
The 25-year-old Hamlin tells journalist Priscilla Thompson in the video that aired last night on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt how much Zeke’s tale spoke to him.
After his own health crisis this past season, Hamlin returned to the NFL. “I knew the road that it takes to be able to go through something very tough, very challenging, and be able to shift your mind and not let that determine what you want to do with your life or who you want to become,” he says.
After needing to be revived on the field during a game on January 2, 2023, the Bills safety was taken to the hospital in critical condition. After nine days in a Cincinnati hospital, Hamlin was released and resumed his recuperation in Buffalo.
Zeke “overcame” his circumstances after “getting his football dreams snatched away from him” because of his heart issue, according to the Bills safety.
“Having to shift his gears to band and track and other passions that he had, and to be excelling in those passions, it’s inspiring to me,” Hamlin states in the video.
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“But that was a process of finding out if I’d be able to,” the Buffalo Bills safety adds in his interview with Thompson, adding that he feels “super blessed to still be able to play football and be in the NFL” following his health crisis.
ORCHARD PARK, NY – AUGUST 28: On August 28, 2021, in Orchard Park, New York, Damar Hamlin #31 of the Buffalo Bills poses before the team plays the Green Bay Packers at Highmark Stadium. (Image courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig/Getty Images)
Hamlin Damar. Getty/TIMOTHY T. LuDWIG
‘Leading Cause of Death in Youth Athletes’ is the reason Damar Hamlin provides for his cardiac arrest.
Hamlin told Thompson that he prefers to “get out on the front lines and really do the work” when it comes to his community involvement and heart health awareness advocacy, so meeting Zeke in person was vital. According to Hamlin, meeting the inspirational athletes in person allows him to connect with them on a “much more heartfelt” and “more meaningful” level.
Hamlin talked to PEOPLE on his dramatic return to the NFL shortly after his first season back. “It was an adventure. It was an emotional journey. At first, it was really difficult “stated he.
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I gained a lot of knowledge about who I was, what I stood for, and how to simply go back to being myself. It was one of my toughest obstacles, but I overcame it in the company of these amazing men, these wonderful gentlemen who exemplify many virtues, who encouraged, pushed, and checked on me.”
“It was about just us,” continued Hamlin, “and one thing I love about football is just the camaraderie and brotherhood that you developed behind the scenes and in the locker room. It was nothing else. To me, that was the most lovely thing—my brothers constantly checking in on me and making sure I was alright while also encouraging me to improve.”
