Damar Hamlin, Buffalo Bills playerImage source, Getty Images
Image caption, Damar Hamlin is in critical condition after suffering cardiac arrest during a game on Monday

Donations to a toy drive launched in 2020 by American football player Damar Hamlin have skyrocketed after he collapsed on the field during a game.

By Tuesday night, the toy drive had raised over $5 million.

Money from the initial drive went to toys for children in need.

Hamlin is fighting for his life after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Dorrian Glen told CNN that Hamlin's health was "trending upwards" but he was still on a ventilator.

The family was shocked by the emergency because Hamlin was healthy as an ox and had no pre-existing heart issues, according to Glen.

He said that his nephew had to be resuscitated twice and that he had been flipped on his stomach to take pressure off his lungs.

Fans of the National Football League were shocked when they saw Hamlin fall to the ground after a hard collision with another player.

The game was stopped for the night and will not resume this week.

Hamlin's family thanked fans and donors in a statement on Tuesday.

They said they were thankful for the love and support shown to them.

Hamlin's charity, the Chasing M Foundation, has raised over 191,000 dollars through a crowd funding website in the last 24 hours.

More than two thousand times the charity's initial 2020 campaign goal has been raised by the drive.

Hamlin's family said on the GoFundMe page that the fundraiser was originally set up to raise money for a local toy drive, but is now used to contribute to Damar's community initiatives and his current fight

The Chasing M Foundation supports a lot of different things.

Hamlin ran a toy drive for the third year in a row in the holiday season in the year 2022, according to his social media accounts.

Hamlin called his toy drive a success and shared a video of him giving gifts to children.

Hamlin said he launched the toy charity drive because he wanted to use his platform to positively impact the community that raised him.

Media caption,

The fans reacted to the incident.

Hamlin wrote that the campaign gave people the chance to contribute to the first initiative and positively impact children who have been hardest hit by the Pandemic.

On Monday night, after the incident on the field, the GoFundMe got a boost in support from the site itself, which linked to it on the social networking site.

Hamlin was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the second year of his career after playing college football for the University of Pittsburgh.

Hamlin started all but two of the Buffalo Bills games this season after serving as a reserve.