There are a lot of people who have been praised for their handling of the traumatic events of Monday night after Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest on the field - but none more so than Denny Kellington, whose quick reactions saved the safety's life.

Hamlin collapsed after landing a hit on Bengals' receiver Tee Higgins in the first quarter causing medical staff to quickly spring into action. 

Brain injuries can rapidly occur in patients suffering from cardiac arrest with tissue starting to die within minutes of being deprived of oxygen and Kellington's quick reactions to administering CPR to Hamlin has proven to be a matter of life or death. 

After news circulated that Hamlin was showing signs improvement and was communicating with his teammates, people began searching for the man who began immediately performing life-saving CPR. 

That man was Kellington, an Oklahoma State University graduate who has been with the Bills for five years after spending over a decade as the head athletic trainer at Syracuse University. 

Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during the contest in Cincinnati. Doctors say that Hamlin initially had a pulse at the stadium and then lost it. It was then that Kellington was able to quickly restart his heart and restore blood flow to his brain as players from both teams and millions of television viewers looked on in shock. 

Doctors treating Hamlin at University of Cincinnati Medical Center said the immediate recognition that there was something significantly wrong and the rapid response by Kellington and others was crucial to his survival.

'The Bills training staff who was with him immediately recognized that this was not a run of the mill injury and that they had a significant event on their hands and immediately responded,' Dr. Timothy Pritts told reporters earlier on Thursday.

'This went as well as something like this can go under very challenging circumstances. They did a fantastic job, which is why we are here today.'

Despite the positive news, doctors said Hamlin, 24, was still critically ill and remained in the intensive care unit, adding that the focus was on getting him off of a ventilator 'and on the road to recovery.'

So, who is Kellington? After earning his Bachelor's degree at Oklahoma State as a member of the training staff on the Cowboys' football team as an intern between 1996 and 1999.

From there, he interned with the Denver Broncos as an athletic training intern 

After getting his degree in 2002, he went overseas to be the assistant athletic trainer for the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe.

He went back to Ohio State following one season in Holland and worked with the field hockey and women's lacrosse teams while earning his Masters degree

Following his time there, he took up residence in central New York as head athletic trainer of the Syracuse Orange football team.

He remained in that post for over a decade before deciding to move two hours west to his current position with the Bills in 2017. 

It was with the Bills that Kellington was doing his job - one he had been trained to do all his life. 

Despite the preparation, Bills head coach Sean McDermott still claimed Kellington's actions were 'amazing'.

'For an assistant to find himself in that position and needing to take the action that he did ... is nothing short of amazing,' McDermott told reporters.

'You talk about a real leader, a real hero in saving Damar's life. I admire his strength.'

Bills quarterback Josh Allen echoed McDermott's sentiments about the training staff and Kellington, who has been with the Bills for nearly six years.

'I want to thank our training staff for going out there, not knowing what was going on but going through a checklist ... and saving his life,' an emotional Allen said.

Allen added that news on Thursday that Hamlin was awake and communicating with medical staff led to 'a lot of tears of joy' after tears of pain rolled down players' faces on Monday.

And it's for his training, knowledge and immediate action that NFL fans are already calling for Kellington to be properly honored. 

Supporters are asking Kellington and the rest of the Bills training staff to remarkably be enshrined in Canton, Ohio in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for their lifesaving actions in Cincinnati.

Whether or not Kellington will be given a gold jacket is up to the league and the committee for selection. But as of now, the training staff and the Bills themselves will receive a raucous ovation in their final home game of the season this Sunday.

If that jacket isn't in his future, Kellington will be remembered for what he did on that field: saving the life of a young man who needed help, and being the man to provide that for him as the rest of the world watched on and prayed for the best possible outcome.