BALTIMORE — The NFL playoffs are on the horizon, and as Damar Hamlin recovers in a Buffalo hospital, his cardiac arrest is still at the forefront in the hearts and minds of football fans.
A group of Baltimore-area Bills fans, known as the Charm City Bills Backers, is taking action after Hamlin's on-field cardiac arrest.
"People who aren’t Bills fans, people who aren’t football fans, have come out and donated and helped us and wanted to be part of what we do," said Vanessa Malecki, a registered nurse, Buffalo Bills superfan and regular attendee for Bills games at the Admiral’s Cup.
Malecki, fans, and the Cup's owners are planning CPR lessons free of charge this February, which is American Heart Month.
The Charm City Bills Backers page, which has about 3,000 followers on Facebook, is also selling t-shirts for charity, donating to a favorite cause of Bengals' receiver Tee Higgins, an opposing player involved in the Hamlin play.
For Malecki, Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest highlights the importance of learning CPR - it saved Hamlin’s life.
"Everybody is talking about this," continued Malecki, "and I think it's wonderful because it brings attention to the need to learn bystander CPR."
"You can learn how to do it, and not need a certification and still have it be really, really effective in public if you find yourself needing to perform it on somebody," Malecki explained.
