Tragedy Sparks Positive Change
Hamlin’s injury leads to massive support and fund-raising
The second-to-last day of Monday Night Football before the playoffs was supposed to be an exhilarating matchup between the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen and Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow. However, tragedy struck before the end of the first quarter. Following a hard tackle unto Tee Higgins, Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field, which fans later learned was due to a sudden cardiac arrest. For sixteen whole minutes, silence engulfed Paycor Stadium as medical personnel used CPR to restart Hamlin’s heart on the field. He was then transported to hospital where he stayed for the next nine days. The game was ultimately canceled.
The most striking occurrence following Hamlin’s medical emergency, though, was the skyrocketing of donations towards the GoFundMe he set up two seasons ago as he entered the NFL, aimed at raising money to buy toys for kids. After sitting stagnant at just under $3,000, the fundraiser climbed to $3,000,000 just one day after the incident, and has since reached almost $9,000,000. SMB Wolfpack captain Sam Hardy ‘24 says, “I thought it was really cool that all this attention was getting brought to his GoFundMe, especially because [the donations] were being used to help the greater good and not just [Hamlin] himself.”
The amassed funds just go to show the true culture found in the Bills fanbase. SMB Wolfpack coach Trey Muraoka says that “the Bills’ fan base has a history of doing stuff like this … When Josh Allen’s grandma died, his foundation saw a lot of increased donations.”
The GoFundMe also proved the presence of this culture within the rest of the NFL, with large donations coming from other teams, such as the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots, and players themselves, such as former Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski.
However, looking further into the donations poses the question of what the true intensions behind them were. With today’s rapid trend cycle, it is hard to say whether or not Hamlin’s injury sparked viewers to thoroughly look into the cause. Hardy noted that “it’s easy to just see ‘Damar Hamlin injured,’ and then throw $5.00 into the fund without even reading what’s going on … It very easily could’ve been something were people didn’t exactly know what they were putting their money towards.”
