'Got to give them credit': NFL player Damar Hamlin who suffered cardiac arrest hails parents for success
CINCINNATI, OHIO: Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who remains in critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest on the pitch as a result of a horrific collision, hailed his parents for his success. In a previous interview, Hamlin attributed his success to both of his parents, with his mother serving as his most steadfast supporter.
Hamlin is in the intensive care unit after a fall during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night, January 2. His mother, Nina, 41, was at the game and went in the ambulance with her son as he was taken to the hospital. The 24-year-old was born in 1998 in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania when his mother was 16 and his father, Mario, was 17.
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Hamlin's mother Nina still runs a daycare center in Pennsylvania, and the couple launched an office cleaning business together. As his condition remains critical, the GoFundMe page he launched in 2020 to buy toys for the "children in need" is being flooded with donations. Apparently, 'charity' plays a vital role in his life since it benefits the "community" to which Hamlin belongs. He launched the fundraiser while still a student at the University of Pittsburgh before he was drafted.
Buffalo Bills star hails parents for his success
"I'm extremely close to my family," he remarked in a 2021 interview. "My mom, she was sixteen when she had me and I just try to think about when I was sixteen years old and I just couldn’t imagine having a little boy." He added, "It was probably so stressful but both of my parents had my young, at sixteen and pretty much since that point they put everything they had into me to get me to where we are right now today," reported Daily Mail. The 24-year-old has a younger brother named Damir who was born in 2015. He shares his big brother's desire to play football professionally.
He said that initially, it was just the three of them—him and his parents—and he explained that they instilled in him the value of "hard work" and "lessons of life." The NFL player had to live almost four years without his father, 42, who was sentenced to three and a half years in prison after being found guilty of narcotics trafficking as a way to survive.
'I’ve got to give out a credit to them'
When Hamlin was a youngster, he also saw three of his friends get shot to death. The killings are still unsolved. After graduating from Catholic Central High School, Hamlin chose to play football at the University of Pittsburgh for five seasons from 2016 to 2020 in order to stay close to home. He kept in touch with his father while he was behind bars, and called him frequently to check on him. The Bills star stated, "There were times where I could have steered left or steered right but my parents were always there to straighten me out and get me back on the track." He added, "I’ve got to give out a credit to them, it really had nothing to do with me. The only thing I had to do was just listen and that’s the type of kid I was." He continued, "It was tough, it was a real adjustment, really had to kind of grow up and figure life out on my own for a little bit not having a father figure in my life."
'He never was out of my life'
Bills star went on to say that he had reasonable goals and good morals "already established in him" during that period of time and he feels it's a "good thing." The 24-year-old stated, "He never was out of my life, but he physically wasn’t there, and that was different – it’s a different ballgame being through the phone than in person. But just me being who I was and what was already instilled in me, I stayed focused."