Bills fans gathered at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Tuesday afternoon at a vigil for safety Damar Hamlin, who suffered cardiac arrest Monday night during a game against the Bengals and was in critical condition as of Tuesday afternoon.
And it was Jill Kelly, wife of legendary Bills quarterback Jim Kelly, who helped organize the event, according to multiple reports.
“We’re all on the same page. We all feel heartbroken. We all feel this sense of hurt and pain and we’re with Damar, his family,” Jill Kelly said, according to WGRZ-TV. “But it’s bigger than football. This is an example that it’s so much bigger than football, but yet the game of football has brought us together and has allowed us to have a community like this where we can pray, we can give, and we do these things to help in whatever way we can, and I feel like everybody wants to do something.”
Fans prayed in the rain as a “Pray for Damar” message was posted on digital billboards outside the stadium, according to NFL Network.
Hamlin, 24, collapsed after tackling Bengals receiver Tee Higgins during the first quarter in Cincinnati on Monday night. His heartbeat was restored by medical personnel and he was transported by ambulance to University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he was still in the intensive care unit Tuesday afternoon.
Some Bills players, including receiver Stefon Diggs, stayed in Cincinnati to be near Hamlin while the rest of the team traveled back home Monday night.
There wasn’t any update on Hamlin’s condition as of early Tuesday evening. His marketing representative, Jordon Rooney, told “Good Morning America” Tuesday morning that Hamlin’s family was “in good spirits.”
“He’s fighting. He’s a fighter,” Rooney said of Hamlin.
The Bills-Bengals game was postponed after a delay of about an hour. The NFL announced Tuesday that the game will not resume this week.
