(Reuters) – The online toy drive fundraiser created by Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has received a massive surge in donations as fans showed their support after the player suffered a cardiac arrest during a primetime NFL game on Monday.
The GoFundMe page Hamlin launched in December 2020 to buy toys for children ahead of that year’s holiday season is still active and had raised $3.8 million as of 11:00 a.m. ET (1600 GMT) on Tuesday.
During the first quarter of Monday’s game against the host Cincinnati Bengals, Hamlin got to his feet after making a tackle and then collapsed. Hamlin is in critical condition at a Cincinnati hospital after receiving emergency medical attention on the field as stunned players looked on.
Hamlin set up the GoFundMe page after his college career with a goal of $2,500 to buy toys that would be distributed at a daycare in his Pennsylvania hometown. It had received nearly $3,000 during a two-year span through December 2022.
“As I embark on my journey to the NFL, I will never forget where I come from and I am committed to using my platform to positively impact the community that raised me,” Hamlin wrote at the time on his GoFundMe page.
“I created The Chasing M’s Foundation as a vehicle that will allow me to deliver that impact, and the first program is the 2020 Community Toy Drive.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
