Prayer circle for Hamlin at Highmark Stadium
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BUFFALO, N.Y. – Just think about what the Buffalo community has gone through this year. A mass shooting. Deadly storms. A fire that killed several children. And now this with the Buffalo Bills.
We went to Buffalo to talk to bills fans who made a pilgrimage to the stadium. There was a prayer circle with dozens of fans and Bills royalty like Jill Kelly and Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas.
And there were scores of people coming to the Bills Store trying to buy a T-shirt with the number 3 — Damar Hamlin’s number.
I went through all the tragedies this community is faced this year.
Brean: “Do you think about that?”
Just think about what the Buffalo community has gone through this year. A mass shooting. Deadly storms. A fire that killed several children. And now this with the Buffalo Bills.
Shannon Bork, Elba: “Every day. We are strong. We stick together. It’s a great place to live.”
Brean: “How does a Community take all this tragedy?”
Kevin Michalski, Hamburg: “Well, we are buffalo strong in my opinion. We are a strong town.”
Brean: “You came here looking for a DiMare jersey out of respect for him.
Joe Curatola, Buffalo: “We donated (to Hamlin’s charity) online, but we also wanted to come here and do some thing else for him.”
Brean: “What prompted you to do that?”
Curatola: “It’s was awful. It was awful to see something like that.
At 3 p.m. Jill Kelly, the wife of Jim Kelly, organized a prayer circle outside the stadium. That’s where Thurman Thomas showed up. The prayers asked for God’s mercy and healing.
One of the people here was Tia Breske. Her husband is on the Bills training staff and was on the field trying to save Hamlin’s life last night.
Tia Breske, Buffalo: “I believe in the power of prayer and the power it holds, and I know that when we gather, the Lord is with us and Damar needs prayers and miracles, and the more of us that are praying for him and believing and standing together, it will happen. He will be healed.”
Jill Kelly: “ We were stunned and speechless, and we were reaching out to people that we know and ask him what’s going on and we were crying and we were upset and we immediately started praying.”
The people who tried to buy T-shirts with Damar Hamlin‘s number and name couldn’t get them because of a licensing conflict at the Bills Store.
But every electronic board, at every gate tonight, says pray for Damar and the number three. You can see the full prayer service here:
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