Damar Hamlin Conspiracy Theories

Ravi Kheradia

During the game against the Cincinnati Bengals on January 2nd, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest after a tackle. The Bills medical staff performed CPR on Hamlin for almost ten minutes before the ambulance arrived and he was rushed to the hospital. Hamlin slowly began to recover before waking up on January 6th and being discharged from the hospital on January 11th. However there are many conspiracies surrounding what may have happened. One such theory arose after Hamlin was seen in attendance at the Bills’ Divisional Round game against the Bengals. Many anti-vaccine users on Twitter began to speculate that Damar Hamlin had in fact died from the COVID-19 vaccine and that the man in attendance was a body double. They also theorized that the NFL had planned to create a clone of Hamlin. This outlandish proposition was based on the fact that Hamlin’s face was covered every time he was shown on camera. Several Bills players, including quarterback Josh Allen, publicly disproved this theory calling it “stupid.” Linebacker Matt Milano posted a photo to his Instagram story showing Hamlin in the locker room with the rest of the team. Hamlin has also made several posts to his social media accounts since regaining consciousness and being discharged from the Buffalo hospital.