Buffalo Bills star Damar Hamlin continues to be targeted by conspiracy theorists, who claim the football star had "died" and been replaced by a "clone" despite his numerous public appearances over the past few weeks.
The latest such claims revolve around his body art, with tattoos—either "missing," or previously unseen—fueling social media speculation.
Newsweek Misinformation looked at what is behind the claims, and how they are being tied into existing narratives.
Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest during the Bills' game against the Cincinnati Bengals on January 2, 2023, and received CPR on the field while being treated for 30 minutes by medical staff.
The 24-year-old safety was quickly rushed to hospital, where he was kept on a ventilator for two days as his condition stabilized.
After spending more than nine days in hospitals, he was discharged from Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute on January 11, and continued his recovery at home, making several public appearances in the ensuing weeks.
From the moment he collapsed on the pitch, Hamlin became a target of conspiracy theories and social media misinformation, with a flood of baseless claims suggesting that the COVID vaccine was to blame (and not the hit he received moments before the fall).
Later, as the Bills safety began to recover, the conspiracists appeared to shift the goal posts with further unevidenced claims suggesting the real Hamlin had died and has been replaced by a clone (a popular...
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