When this event first happened, I was up in Canada (Toronto) at the time. Out of the US…but I guess not too far from Buffalo, so you could argue I was either disconnected, or very connected, geographically. But here was the amazing thing: the connection went well beyond my/our physical proximity to Cinci or Buffalo.
The Bills training staff, was given the Pat Tillman Award for Service the other nt at the ESPYS.
This scene, of the whole staff rallied arnd Damar Hamlin, was special. It reminded us of what that nt was like, when the world stopped, & what the following days were like when we all (almost universally, even w some questioning how the injury happened) rallied arnd the efforts of the trainers, hospital staff, & the Hamlin family, to pull for this man to make a recovery. It was the closest to the post 9/11 feeling of unity I can remember.
Damar did…he made a recovery. He was on stage at the ESPYS, after laying lifeless on the field, to hand the award to the staff that helped save him in the critical moments.
Bills Head Trainer, Nate Breske, upon accepting the award on behalf of his group shared the following (on this quote card): “Let’s remember that moment of unity & use it to save the next life.”
Bc I now see the world, based on my own lived experience & the stories you share daily, thru a MH lens, I can’t help but wonder if there’s ever been a moment like this for MH.
Breske used the stage to talk abt the need for folks getting trained on AEDs & CPR…as he should have. We need equipment & folks trained to save ppl from future cardiac events.
And in the same breath, can you imagine a world like the last slide➡️, where we all rallied arnd someone who could OPENLY share that they were suicidal? Not seeing it on a bridge, only. But, instead, being able to go to strangers on the street to ask for help – like we would if we had feelings of a heart attack.
Imagine we were able to rally & save those in crisis – not only at a hospital. Imagine we celebrated the bravery to ask for help, & those who saved them…& instead of labeling anyone as “crazy”…labeled them all, like the Bills/Hamlin case, as heroes.