Damar Hamlin had a goal to raise $2,500 online to buy toys for underprivileged kids, and it took him two years to accomplish it.

However, when he was critically injured during a nationally televised game against the Cincinnati Bengals and needed his heart restarted on the field, the story became one of the biggest in sports and thousands of people found his GoFundMe page.

In the first 12 hours after the incident, approximately $3.7 million was donated, with an average of three donations per second.

And now, that number is over $4.2 million, and it is not showing signs of slowing down.

Many of the donations came with messages of support for Hamlin, who is currently sedated in a Cincinnati hospital in critical condition.

The fundraiser had previously only raised $2,921, but shot up to $3,637,590 in the first 12 hours after the incident.

Hamlin started the GoFundMe in December 2020 as part of his Chasing M's Foundation and the 2020 Community Toy Drive, which he held at Kelly and Nina's Daycare Center in his hometown of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. The toy drive was inspired by Hamlin's upbringing, during which he lost three friends to gun violence and saw his father incarcerated for selling drugs.

Many of the donations came from Buffalo Bills fans, known as the Bills Mafia, who have shown support for various causes in the past.

Last night's horrific incident involving Hamlin is being classified as a "freak" occurrence.

After what appeared to be a routine tackle made by Hamlin, the Bills safety stood up and then suddenly collapsed.

He was administered CPR on the field, and a total of 15 minutes passed from when he collapsed to when he was taken off the field.

Players from both sides were emotionally moved by the incident. The NFL had initially planned to give each team "5 minutes" to regroup and continue the game, but the league eventually made the move to cancel and reschedule the game entirely.

It was then reported that Hamlin had suffered from cardiac arrest on the field. The Buffalo Bills released the following statement regarding the incident:

"Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest following a hit in our game versus the Bengals. His heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment. He is currently sedated and listed in critical condition."

Hamlin was then intubated after his vitals had returned to normal, per his marketing representative Jordan Rooney.

Hamlin's condition is being monitored closely and we will update you on his status accordingly.

‍