The American Heart Association and the National Football League Foundation have awarded five students tickets to Super Bowl LXI and five schools $10,000 each for physical activity equipment makeovers as part of a collaboration to promote Hands-Only CPR education in schools. The prizes were incentive drawings for students who participated in the Association’s in-school programs, Kids Heart Challenge™ and American Heart Challenge™, during the 2025-26 school year and learned Hands-Only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
The student winners, each receiving two tickets to Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, are Finley of Tonawanda, New York; Amelia of Parma, Ohio; Nicolas of Doral, Florida; Sophia of Rio Rancho, New Mexico; and Mark of Mesa, Arizona. The schools receiving $10,000 for equipment makeovers are Chancellor Elementary School in Fredericksburg, Virginia; Lincoln K-8 in Rochester, Minnesota; Watertown Elementary in Watertown, Tennessee; Commonwealth Elementary in Sugar Land, Texas; and Olita Elementary in La Habra, California.
This initiative matters because cardiac arrest remains a leading cause of death in the United States. More than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur annually, with 70% happening at home. According to the 2023 American Heart Association Statistical Update, 9 out of 10 people who suffer cardiac arrest outside a hospital die, often because they do not receive immediate CPR. Immediate CPR can double or triple survival chances. The 2022 CARES registry underscores the critical gap in bystander intervention. Teaching students as young as 9 to perform quality chest compressions can create a generation of lifesavers. A scientific statement from the Association notes that children as young as 4 can call 911, and those as young as 9 can provide effective compressions.
“Every student who learns Hands-Only CPR represents another potential lifesaver in their home, school or community,” said Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association. “The NFL’s unparalleled reach into communities across the country helps us bring lifesaving CPR education directly to students where they learn and play.”
The NFL’s support includes an introduction video by Damar Hamlin, Buffalo Bills safety and cardiac arrest survivor, who shares how CPR saved his life. The NFL Foundation has renewed its commitment for the 2026-27 school year, offering five more Super Bowl LXII tickets and five $10,000 school makeovers. Parents and educators can visit heart.org/jointhechallenge to learn more. The Association publishes the official guidelines for CPR and encourages everyone to join the Nation of Lifesavers initiative. Take 90 seconds to learn how to save a life at www.heart.org/nation.
