The National Football League is honoring the UC trauma surgeon and some of her UC colleagues who helped save the life of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin after his heart stopped during a Jan. 2 NFL game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Valerie Sams, MD, director of the Center for Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills (C-STARS) at University of Cincinnati Medical Center, were recognized at a pre-Super Bowl event in Glendale, AZ, site of Super Bowl LVII.
“It’s a little awkward at the moment, but it’s a really great opportunity for us to highlight what we do and highlight our Air Force involvement here,” Sams, who is a Lt. Col. in the Air Force, said in an interview with the Dayton Daily News. Sams is assigned to the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine while working at the UC Medical Center as a surgeon.
