Word of Bills safety Damar Hamlin‘s continued improvement got Friday off to a great start around the NFL and his bid to help provide help to children became a phenomenon after he went into cardiac arrest on the field in Cincinnati earlier this week.
Hamlin had posted a GoFundMe page seeking $2,500 to support a holiday toy drive. The last few days have seen over $7.8 million in donations come into Hamlin’s Chasing M’s Foundation and the NFL Players Association made a $10,000 donation to the foundation in honor of Hamlin being named this week’s NFLPA Community MVP.
“On behalf of Damar Hamlin, we’d like to express our sincere gratitude and humility towards the NFLPA community for selecting Damar as a NFLPA Community MVP,” Hamlin’s family said in a statement. “Damar holds firm that leadership is best displayed through servitude, and the community’s generosity will allow Damar to continue serving those in need.”
Hamlin will be eligible for the Alan Page Community Award at the end of the season, although no award is likely to adequately note the impact that Hamlin’s fight has had on so many people this week.