Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin Gets Heart Tattoo on 1-Year Anniversary of His Cardiac Arrest Scare

Damar Hamlin commemorated the one-year anniversary of his mid-game cardiac arrest episode with a telling tattoo.

The Buffalo Bills player, 25, debut his fresh ink via tattoo artist Alexander Brenes’ Instagram page on Tuesday, January 2. The design is a hand heart with an electrocardiogram — or heartbeat line — in the middle.

“1 year later still locked in 🫶🏽,” Brenes captioned a series of photos with Hamlin, revealing that the new tattoo is located on the NFL player’s neck. Hamlin commented on the post with three emojis, “🫶🏾🥉🪽,” representing the hand heart, his jersey number and an angel wing.

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Two days prior, Hamlin reflected on his own journey over the past year after suffering cardiac arrest on January 2, 2023, while playing football.

“It took me all of 2023 to find myself again,” he revealed via Instagram on Sunday, December 31. “It’s a tough year to explain man … you just had to be there!”

Hamlin made headlines in January 2023 after collapsing during the first quarter of the Bills game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Ohio. The Bills later reported that Hamlin’s “heartbeat was restored on the field” following nearly 10 minutes of CPR.

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The game was postponed in wake of Hamlin’s traumatic injury that shook athletes and fans around the NFL. “Please pray for our brother,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen wrote via X after exiting the field with his teammates. Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields wrote, “Prayers up … 🙏”

Hamlin was discharged from the Ohio hospital one week later and transported to a facility in Buffalo, New York, to continue his recovery.

“When you put real love out into the world it comes back to you 3x’s as much.. 🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾,” Hamlin wrote via Instagram in early January 2023 at which time the hand heart symbol became synonymous with his health journey. “The Love has been overwhelming, but I’m thankful for every single person that prayed for me and reached out. We brung [sic] the world back together behind this. If you know me you know this only gone make me stronger. On a long road keep praying for me! 🫶🏾❤️3️⃣ #3strong.”

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It was a long road, but Hamlin completed his first practice with the Bills in June 2023. He played in his first regular season game four months later and couldn’t contain his excitement about stepping back onto the field.

“That moment was everything to me,” the safety told reporters of his run through the tunnel with his teammates in October 2023. “I think it was more so about promising to myself than anything else — just showing myself that I have the courage, I got the strength, that I got the pride, everything … in me to be able to go through something so traumatic and to be able to come back from it. To be able to still do what I love at the highest level in the world is amazing.”