TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — A second-grade student at Tonawanda Elementary is heading to California for Super Bowl 61 all because he learned how to save lives through hands-on CPR.
Students flooded the auditorium on Tuesday when they were told an assembly would be taking place, but the real surprise was actually waiting right behind the double doors.
7-year-old Finley Schrecongost was unsuspecting of what he believed was an American Heart Association presentation.
A few minutes later, a spokesperson from the Buffalo Bills took the stage and revealed the first of two surprises: Safety Damar Hamlin and Billy Buffalo.
And then, the big reveal: two tickets to the Super Bowl. Thanks to a partnership with the AHA and the NFL, students at 25,000 schools across the nation participated in the Kid's Heart Challenge program, which gets students to learn about the heart while raising money for research and treatment.
WATCH: 7-year-old Tonawanda Elementary School student wins Super Bowl tickets after learning hands-on CPR
Meanwhile, Hamlin is no stranger to the life-saving impacts of CPR training and how important it is to learn, no matter your age.
"Dealing with cardiac arrest and being here today was truly because someone around me knew CPR," Hamlin said. "So to continue to push the message and mission and get people to learn CPR is very special."
Finley's dad, Jeffrey Schrecongost, told me he's proud of the person he is becoming.
"Every day I'm proud of him because I see him doing the little things, and CPR is not a little thing, and knowing it means a lot to me."
If you're wondering who Finley will take to California come February, he told me his dad is coming along, and of course the team he wishes to see there is the Bills.
